[WIP][1.2.2] Keridian Dynamics - Dev Thread [Last Update: 2017-01-21]

[Eleusis La Arwall]

9 hours ago, Andem said:

Regular part as in It could potentially be used as a landing pad fr a Mun base, or something.

Yes that should work. The only thing I'm still worried about is the engine-heat during the landing. The LaunchPads are sort of passive "radiators" to prevent explosions due to overheating but I haven't tested actual landing on a pad

Played a bit with OSE Workshop and this is what I can add via ModuleManager patches for the next update:

• 3D-Printer can convert Ore to MaterialKits. (I'd prefere Metal or Metal+Ore to MaterialKits but that would require balancing and I think it's better to use OSEs settings for now.)
• A new part that is going to be introduced with the next update can build/recycle parts with the OSE Workshop module.
• Tank setup for MaterialKits (XenonGas config will be overwritten).

Atm there is no part available to do the Dirt to RareMetals/ExoticMinerals conversion. Once I do some more with the recycling concept, there will be some sort of chemical plant that could do it. In the meantime I could add a config for the tanks to store RareMetals/ExoticMinerals, if desired. This would overwrite some more tank-configs or some configs would use the same color.

The update should be ready by weekend *fingers crossed*

On 09/05/2016 at 8:00 AM, Joshwoo69 said:

yeah not sure if it is 1.1 compatible.. still but yeah I was kinda goig for that. was thinking that you can make the middle open space fully passable.

Here is a very ruff concept of the Orbital Construction Hangar. The main cylinder will be 2.5 m in diameter. To have the middle fully passable is good idea. This way it can be extended by stacking the hangars. After the next update I'm going to turn the concept into a proper part.

[Eleusis La Arwall]

Version 0.7 is released!

Download from SpaceDock

Download from GitHub

 

What's new?

The Mobile VAB is now available for surface-based operations or just for faster assembly anywhere. Also the SledgeHammer and LaunchSite left the Experimental Section. In combination with the Mobile VAB they can be used to launch new vessels. They work similar to ELs SurveyStation, SurveyStake and Mallet.
This is my first attempt with the new IVA overlay and interior stuff in general. I had a lot fun doing it but I also learned how hard and time-consuming it can be. It's not finished yet but good enough for a first release.

OSE Workshop is now supported! The 3D-Printer can convert Ore to Material Kits and the Mobile VAB has an OSE workshop and OSE recycler module. RareMetals and ExoticMinerals can't be converter yet but a tank-setup is available to store them. A new tank-setup for MaterialKits is also available.

Dependency has changed. ModuleManager is 100% required because it detects what mods are installed and applies Part-settings and modules accordingly.
Extraplanetary Launchpads and Kerbal Inventory System are not 100% required. I think they are needed because most of the parts will have no function without them and can be considered dead weight. Never the less all parts will appear in the VAB/SPH without these mods.
InterstellarFuelSwitch is not a dependency anymore but still supported and highly recommended. A new MM-config will detect if InterstellarFuelSwitch or Firespitter (bundled with OSE Workshop) is installed.
-If IFS and Firespitter are NOT installed: Seperate tanks for RocketParts and Metal are available.
-If IFS is installed but not Firespitter: tanks use InterstellarFuelSwitch.
-IF Firespitter is installed: tanks use Firespitters fuel switch (even if IFS is also installed).
This patch took a lot of time to write but it can propably be improved. I really like what MM can do but sadly I'm not good at writing configs for it. Let me know if you encounter any problems or have improvements for it.

Enough talk for now, have fun and enjoy the update!

Changelog:

Spoiler

2016-05-16 - Universal Assembly - v0.7
    -New part: KD-MobileVAB. Acts primary as Survey Station and offers a high productivity factor for up to 12 Kerbals.
    -New part (previously experimental): KD-LaunchSite (reworked). Acts as Survey Stake.
    -New part (previously experimental): KD-SledgeHammer. Needed to attach the LaunchSite to the ground.
    -All parts above need Kerbal Inventory System to work properly.
    -Added support for OSE workshop.
    -KD-3D-Printer can convert Ore to MaterialKits.
    -KD-MobileVAB can be used as OSE workshop and OSE recycler.
    -KD-T125FS and KD-T250FS have 2 additional setups (Materialkits and RareMetals/ExoticMinerals).
    -InterstellarFuelSwitch is not a dependency anymore but still supported and highly recommended.
    -Added support for Firespitter (FSmeshSwitch & FSfuelSwitch).
    -Added MM-config that autodetects if Firespitter and/or InterstellarFuelSwitch is installed and applies the corresponding modules to the tanks. (If both are NOT installed, two tanks for RocketParts and two tanks for Metal are available.)

 

[Kerenatus]

With this beautiful mod, now I want to use EL again!

Thank you for your work!

[Dr Farnsworth]

Eleusis, you mentioned that you may change the 3D printer to produce material kits out of metal for us folks that are using MKS or MKS Lite.

Please do!

I am already planning on trying out your launch pads on my remote base. The furnace and 3D printer would be great to try out as well. 

[Eleusis La Arwall]

14 hours ago, Kerenatus said:

With this beautiful mod, now I want to use EL again!

Thank you for your work!

Your're welcome and I'm glad this made you return to EL Also I'm happy that you like the models 

14 hours ago, Dr Farnsworth said:

Eleusis, you mentioned that you may change the 3D printer to produce material kits out of metal for us folks that are using MKS or MKS Lite.

Please do!

I am already planning on trying out your launch pads on my remote base. The furnace and 3D printer would be great to try out as well. 

I'm no MKS expert, so correct me if I'm wrong but afaik MKS uses the resource " Metals " (with an extra s) instead of Metal. Metal is not defined in CommunityResourcePack and comes with EL. Unless MKS switches to Metal when EL is installed I think it's not that easy to make MKS compatible. Metals is defined with a density of 0.0078 and Metal is 5 times more dense with a density of 0.039. This is a big compatibility issue that I've been thinking about for quite some time and I have no real solution found yet.

Maybe I can come up with a MM patch that switches Furnace and 3D Printer to use MKS resources and production-chain. As I said before I'm not very familiar with MKS, so If someone already has a config or would like to write one I'd be more than happy to include it (with attribution of course).

 

Btw in the changelog I forgot to mentioned that the resource definition for Metal and RocketParts is now included by default (in case you don't have EL installed, the furnace, 3D printer and tanks still work).

[Dr Farnsworth]

I am using MKS Lite at this time, so I can't speak for how the full MKS version works.

In MKS Lite ore is directly converted to material kits/specialized parts with the Scout inflatable workshop.

 

The full version has a much more complicated supply chain.

[Eleusis La Arwall]

10 hours ago, Dr Farnsworth said:

I am using MKS Lite at this time, so I can't speak for how the full MKS version works.

In MKS Lite ore is directly converted to material kits/specialized parts with the Scout inflatable workshop.

 

The full version has a much more complicated supply chain.

Experimented a bit with MKS Lite and I think I missunderstood you So I made a patch that enables the 3D-Printer to convert Metal to MaterialKits. It's available for download from Github (direct download). Just install it after KeridianDynamics and overwrite the one file.

This patch makes it harder/more time-consuming because the convertion ratio from Ore to MaterialKits is lower than OSE and MKS Lite. In numbers (mass, NOT units!): MKS Lite Workshop extracts about 6.9%, OSE Workshop about 3.8% and KD about 1% (the 3D Printer actually converts almost 1:1 but the Furnace exctracts only 1 kg Metal from 100 kg Ore).

If used with MKS Lite a patch for EL to use MaterialKits is more or less required. For testing I used this one provided by dsonbill.

 

[DStaal]

Do the LaunchSite stakes always go into the ground facing the same way?  If so, can we get them with one arm a different color?  It'd be nice to be able to lay out +X is that direction.

[Eleusis La Arwall]

On 19/05/2016 at 5:09 AM, DStaal said:

Do the LaunchSite stakes always go into the ground facing the same way?  If so, can we get them with one arm a different color?  It'd be nice to be able to lay out +X is that direction.

Made another little patch that changes the animation-color on one arm (darker blue). It's available for download from Github (direct download).

When you attach the LaunchSite to the ground without rotating it around the vertical axis (A & D), a SPH craft file will point in the direction of the dark blue arm. Rotating the LaunchSite with A & D will change the direction of the dark blue arm but not the direction of the spawned craft.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will add this to the next release because it's very usefull to know in wich direction the craft will spawn. To be honest I never fully understood how the directions-stuff of the stakes work, so I'd like to know if this is what you need

[123nick]

is this compatible with UKS or Pathfinder? i think UKS changes the production chain for rocket parts so the furnace too 3d printer is far too easy compared,  pathfinder im not sure what it does but it may do something.

[Eleusis La Arwall]

19 minutes ago, 123nick said:

is this compatible with UKS or Pathfinder? i think UKS changes the production chain for rocket parts so the furnace too 3d printer is far too easy compared,  pathfinder im not sure what it does but it may do something.

Haven't tested UKS or Pathfinder yet but I'll catch up on that as soon as I have some time to do so

It is sort of compatible to MKS Lite as described four posts above.

[DStaal]

5 hours ago, Eleusis La Arwall said:

Made another little patch that changes the animation-color on one arm (darker blue). It's available for download from Github (direct download).

When you attach the LaunchSite to the ground without rotating it around the vertical axis (A & D), a SPH craft file will point in the direction of the dark blue arm. Rotating the LaunchSite with A & D will change the direction of the dark blue arm but not the direction of the spawned craft.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will add this to the next release because it's very usefull to know in wich direction the craft will spawn. To be honest I never fully understood how the directions-stuff of the stakes work, so I'd like to know if this is what you need

This sounds exactly like what I was asking for, thanks.  I'll have to try it out.  (And see if the darker blue is enough of a color difference to be noticeable...)

And yeah, I'm still working on the directions-stuff with EL myself.  Partly it's a matter of the fact that I can never remember which direction is forward in the two buildings (it's not the same), and partly it's that there seems to be some subtle interactions that don't quite match the description.  (I think multiple origin stakes affect the directions, when I don't expect them to...)  I'm hoping having this with a directional indicator on it will help me solve that in my head. 

4 hours ago, 123nick said:

is this compatible with UKS or Pathfinder? i think UKS changes the production chain for rocket parts so the furnace too 3d printer is far too easy compared,  pathfinder im not sure what it does but it may do something.

UKS doesn't change the production chain for rocket parts - it replaces rocket parts entirely with a new production chain.  So the 3d printer is useless.    Other than that the only issue is producing Metal from Ore in the Furnace, but there's a patch for that in the extras.  All the build-site and launchpad functionality works fine, so no problems.

[Eleusis La Arwall]

On 20/05/2016 at 0:40 PM, 123nick said:

is this compatible with UKS or Pathfinder? i think UKS changes the production chain for rocket parts so the furnace too 3d printer is far too easy compared,  pathfinder im not sure what it does but it may do something.

On 20/05/2016 at 5:43 PM, DStaal said:

UKS doesn't change the production chain for rocket parts - it replaces rocket parts entirely with a new production chain.  So the 3d printer is useless.    Other than that the only issue is producing Metal from Ore in the Furnace, but there's a patch for that in the extras.  All the build-site and launchpad functionality works fine, so no problems.

That sums it up pretty well for UKS, thanks! The 3D Printer can make MaterialKits (with the patch) but there is no way to produce specialized parts.

Pathfinder seems go with ELs default settings. With the patch for the Furnace to convert MetalOre to Metal the production chain is in line with Pathfinders (please correct me if I'm wrong here). KDs conversion rates are bit lower.

On 03/05/2016 at 1:24 AM, Joshwoo69 said:

cool! Can I also makw a request for a orbital port?

Here is another preview for the OrbitalHangar (the pics show 3 OrbitalHangars in a row):

It's available on GitHub if you want to try it yourself (direct download). A lot of the stuff doesn't work yet (ladders, IVA, floodlights, colliders on the outer stuff,...), but you can ge a good impression of the model so far and if you have suggestions or feedback I'd like to hear it.

[Joshwoo70]

On 5/23/2016 at 5:10 PM, Eleusis La Arwall said:

That sums it up pretty well for UKS, thanks! The 3D Printer can make MaterialKits (with the patch) but there is no way to produce specialized parts.

Pathfinder seems go with ELs default settings. With the patch for the Furnace to convert MetalOre to Metal the production chain is in line with Pathfinders (please correct me if I'm wrong here). KDs conversion rates are bit lower.

Here is another preview for the OrbitalHangar (the pics show 3 OrbitalHangars in a row):

-snip-

It's available on GitHub if you want to try it yourself (direct download). A lot of the stuff doesn't work yet (ladders, IVA, floodlights, colliders on the outer stuff,...), but you can ge a good impression of the model so far and if you have suggestions or feedback I'd like to hear it.

Ayy! looks cool!

[Kerenatus]

OMG the orbital hangar!

[DDE]

OK, just to be clear, I can remove the original E(p)L parts altogether?

[Eleusis La Arwall]

On 26/05/2016 at 10:41 AM, Joshwoo69 said:

Ayy! looks cool!

On 26/05/2016 at 6:42 PM, Kerenatus said:

OMG the orbital hangar!

Thank you very much for the feedback! I'm glad you already like this early version

6 hours ago, DDE said:

OK, just to be clear, I can remove the original E(p)L parts altogether?

Yes, you can remove the original E(p)L parts altogether if you want. The KD parts should work with and without the original parts.

 

To be honest, I was a bit lazy last week and haven't done as much as I wanted but today I've started with the Orbital Hangar IVA and still learning/playing around with lights in unity. I've noticed that the MVAB IVA has actually no lights at the moment and it's pretty dark during the night. Will be fiixed with the next version.

Since there have been a lot of compatibility questions and suggestions lately I'm thinking about an integration of the MetallicOre --> Metal and MetalOre --> Metal configs for the Furnace. I'd like to have all three conversion options available at the Furnace but only one can run at a time. Have to check if and how this is possible but otherwise I maybe add derivates of the Furnace for each conversion. If Firespitter is installed you could switch between Furnace setups.

[Dr Farnsworth]

Eleusis. I have been playing around with your fundament. It can be buggy and for some reason likes to move around when you timewarp. It will sometimes shake when you first construct it. If you go to the space center and then come back it will calm down but usually it's not dead level flat. 

I hope you can get the bugs worked out of it. It's a wonderful idea!

 

[Eleusis La Arwall]

On 04/06/2016 at 11:53 PM, Dr Farnsworth said:

Eleusis. I have been playing around with your fundament. It can be buggy and for some reason likes to move around when you timewarp. It will sometimes shake when you first construct it. If you go to the space center and then come back it will calm down but usually it's not dead level flat. 

I hope you can get the bugs worked out of it. It's a wonderful idea!

yes that was indeed a wonderful idea/suggestion by colmo. The fact that it "sometimes works and sometimes doesn't" is the reason it remains in the experimental section. I really like to play around with it and test ideas but I couldn't come up with an improved version yet. After days of trial and error I think it needs a plugin in order to make it a real working feature. Especially to prevent the detaching. Sadly that is something I can't do If someone is interested and willing to write such a plugin let me know!

[Deimos Rast]

I just wanted to take a moment to say these parts are incredibly high quality, and I really like them. Keep up the good work.

[Eleusis La Arwall]

On 12/06/2016 at 7:20 AM, Deimos Rast said:

I just wanted to take a moment to say these parts are incredibly high quality, and I really like them. Keep up the good work.

Thank you very much for your kind words Since I'm still learning all that stuff it's nice to get such positive feedback. Makes me feel like I'm on the right way

 

The next update will still take some more time but here is a little preview of the upcoming StationTanks (crew passsable storage tanks):

4k pic

Edited June 13, 2016 by Eleusis La Arwall
image stuff

[colmo]

@taniwha posted an explanation of survey stakes. It may help fix how Fundaments spawn:

 

[Eleusis La Arwall]

Version 0.8 is available!

Download from SpaceDock

Download from GitHub

 

What's new?

JSI Advanced Transparant Pods is now a dependency.

Connected Living Spaces is now supported.

Station Tanks:
Tired of just two tanks with the same storage-volume? The new StationTanks come in 6 sizes plus one adapter and offer between 450 and 7500 units of resources. They are crew-passable and provide an interior (requires JSI advanced transparant pods). Additionally the tanks are equipped with illuminated signs to distinguish them in the dark. By default they can store RocketParts, Metal and Ore. If Community Resource Pack is installed additional setups for MaterialKits, RareMetals/ExoticMinerals, Dirt and MetalOre are available.

Orbital Hangar:
A new way for off-world construction is introduced with the OrbitalHangar. It is pretty large, has room for 8 Kerbals and provides a good productivity factor. It is usable but still WIP (see spoiler for more info).

Spoiler

1. LaunchPositions: In the EL GUI you will see TWO LaunchPads (Orbital Hangar VAB and Orbital Hangar SPH). The first should be used with craft-files from VAB, the latter with craft-files from SPH. It's very important to choose the right Pad for the right craft BEFORE you start building. If not done correctly the new vessel will spawn 90° rotated (very likely inside the hangar).
2. Ladders: It's a real pain to set them up correctly and not all work as of now. All ladders on the main cylinder work. It is possible to switch from ladder to ladder by holding A or D but does not work 100%.
3. Variants: Three Variants are possible. No radial node; 1.25 m radial node; 2.5 m radial node. If neither Firespitter nor InterstellarFuelSwitch is installed, the adapters will spawn automatically when attaching something to the corresponding node (don't attach decouplers/seperators directly). The downside is that they have no colliders and the ladders don't work. If Firespitter and/or InterstellarFuelSwitch is installed you need to switch between the variants manually to make the adapters appear but they have colliders and the ladders work.
4. Colliders: The colliders are very simple and some areas don't have any ...

Still on the todo list:

• Better IVA (no more "if you have seen one wall, you have seen em all").
• Working Ladders on the scaffolding.
• Floodlights.
• Spawnmarkers
• (Better colliders)

TechTree:
(Re)Balanced the tech-nodes (stock and CTT), costs and costs to unlock. Here is a picture that shows all required tech-nodes in the stock-tree.

Have fun with the update!

Future plans:
More adapters for the StationTanks are in development and some non-passable StationTanks/overhaul of the old tanks are planed. Further improvement of the OrbitalHangar and MVAB IVA are also pretty high on my list.

Changelog:

Spoiler

**2016-07-06 - Storage update one - v0.8**

* New part: KD-OrbitalHangar. Big Launchpad for orbital construction and other stuff. (Thanks to Joshwoo69 / Joshwoo70 for the suggestion!)
* New parts: KD-ST250XFS (X=variant) 2.5 m crew-passable Storage Tanks in 3 sizes (1, 2, 3 m).
* New parts: KD-ST375XFS (X=variant) 3.75 m crew-passable Storage Tanks in 3 sizes (1, 3, 6 m).
* New part: KD-ST3252FS 3.75 m to 2.5 m crew-passable Storage Tank adapter (2 m).
* Community Resource Pack now triggers storage configurations for MaterialKits,... (instead of OSE because CRP is bundled with OSE).
* Added JSI Advanced Transparant Pods dependency.
* Added support for ConnectedLivingSpace.
* Added optional config that allows the 3D-Printer to make MaterialKits from Metal in customisation.
* KD-MobileVAB: Minor model tweaks. Airlock moved to the bottom; Fixed IVA light.
* LaunchSite: One arm glows in a darker blue now.
* Launchpads and MobileVAB have proper names for EL GUI.
* All parts have been rebalanced in cost, cost to unlock and tech-node (Stock and CTT).
* Changed capacity for MaterialKits, RareMetals, ExoticMinerals and Monoprop. on old tanks.

Thanks:

The storage-configs for the StationTanks are based on Necrobones' Fuel Tanks Plus Mod. It's a really good config that allowed me to reduce the line-count by more than 50% Thank you very much!
Also thanks to Deimos Rast for pointing me to them

 

20 hours ago, colmo said:

@taniwha posted an explanation of survey stakes. It may help fix how Fundaments spawn:

 

That really looks like it's time for some experiments with the Fundament again I'll have a deeper look/read tomorrow; need to get some sleep first

[Mekan1k]

I hope this mod doesn't conflict with simpleconstruction... Actually, Can I use your mod's parts instead of the parts normally packaged with EL? Gonna try it now- be right back!

Wait- someone already asked that question! YAY! On to building self-reproducing probes in SPACE!

 

Actually, does this work with simpleconstruction, or is there a patch? Answer: Yes. It uses the same plugin.

Oh, and is there a way to make the rocketpad or orbital launch pad so that it is fully automated? (Doesn't require kerbals to build rockets? I want to build a VN probe.)
 

Edited July 6, 2016 by Mekan1k

[Eleusis La Arwall]

12 hours ago, Mekan1k said:

I hope this mod doesn't conflict with simpleconstruction... Actually, Can I use your mod's parts instead of the parts normally packaged with EL? Gonna try it now- be right back!

Wait- someone already asked that question! YAY! On to building self-reproducing probes in SPACE!

 

Actually, does this work with simpleconstruction, or is there a patch? Answer: Yes. It uses the same plugin.

Oh, and is there a way to make the rocketpad or orbital launch pad so that it is fully automated? (Doesn't require kerbals to build rockets? I want to build a VN probe.)
 

Was about to write that SimpleConstruction is not compatible but thanks to the awesome power of ModuleManager I came up with a patch to make it work.

Download is available on GitHub: direct download

What does it change?

Spoiler

1. SC has a different density defined for the resource metal (0.007 while EL/KD uses 0.039). To compensate the difference this patch modifies the ratios in the resourceconverters to match KDs default resource conversion ratios. Definition for density(Metal)=0.039 is removed if SimpleConstruction is installed.
2. Usually the folder "ExtraplanetaryLaunchpads" inside GameData triggers the ModuleManager patches to apply the required modules. SC ships its own version of the Launchpad.dll and the "ExtraplanetaryLaunchpads" folder does not exist. This patch adds a trigger to apply the modules if the folder "SimpleConstruction" exists AND "ExtraplanetaryLaunchpads" does NOT (inside GameData).

I've read something about automated construction a while ago if I remember correctly but can't find it right now. I'll keep my eyes open but at the moment Kerbals are required to assemble new vessels.