[WIP][1.8.x] SSTULabs - Low Part Count Solutions (Orbiters, Landers, Lifters) - Dev Thread [11-18-18]

[tater]

Feel free to share some pics of the wilderness up there, I've not managed to get up there yet, Colorado is about as far as we can make it on weekends from Albuquerque... I can only assume it's a lot like Colorado, which is saying something, since CO is pretty stunning.

[Haxorlols]

Hello everyone i would like to ask a question, When i was in 1.1.2 this add on was working flawlessly, And then 1.1.3 came, And then i updated this mod like every other mod that needs to be updated But this time, It's not so flawless, When i try to change textures to the orange tanks the color just turns gray.

And also i want to ask what i have to do with the Texture sets? just leave them in Gamedata? Or merge them with the texture sets folder in the SSTU folder?

One more thing, When i spawn in crew modules in the VAB&SPH They seem to be emitting a blue light

Edited July 2, 2016 by Haxorlols
Added more bugs that i have encountered

[ComatoseJedi]

11 hours ago, Haxorlols said:

Hello everyone i would like to ask a question, When i was in 1.1.2 this add on was working flawlessly, And then 1.1.3 came, And then i updated this mod like every other mod that needs to be updated But this time, It's not so flawless, When i try to change textures to the orange tanks the color just turns gray.

And also i want to ask what i have to do with the Texture sets? just leave them in Gamedata? Or merge them with the texture sets folder in the SSTU folder?

One more thing, When i spawn in crew modules in the VAB&SPH They seem to be emitting a blue light

You are correct, the texture file goes into the GameData folder separately from the SSTU folder: just like any other mod, but only cooler  . Just be sure to delete the old file before installing the new ones, just to be on the safe side

New one on me about the emission of blue light. Either it's something you installed or I'll have what you are having to see that sorta stuff. But, all the same, some screenshots of this phenomenia and if there are errors in the log, they need to be posted on the issue tracker on GitHub. 

[rasta013]

13 hours ago, Haxorlols said:

One more thing, When i spawn in crew modules in the VAB&SPH They seem to be emitting a blue light

My first guess on the blue light would be the cone shaped projection seeming to emit from the command pod?  If I'm right, that's the integrated JSI camera that's part of the pod.  If you go into the right click menu for the command pod and select the FOV setting you can toggle it on and off or swap it around in order to see if there are multiple cameras on the pod.

[ComatoseJedi]

8 hours ago, rasta013 said:

 If I'm right, that's the integrated JSI camera that's part of the pod.

DOH.. I totally forgot about that integrated docking cam! *SMH*

[Haxorlols]

15 hours ago, rasta013 said:

My first guess on the blue light would be the cone shaped projection seeming to emit from the command pod?  If I'm right, that's the integrated JSI camera that's part of the pod.  If you go into the right click menu for the command pod and select the FOV setting you can toggle it on and off or swap it around in order to see if there are multiple cameras on the pod.

Of course! the JSI Camera! How could i forget that 

[Shadowmage]

Updated testing release is available:

https://github.com/shadowmage45/SSTULabs/releases/tag/0.4.31.118

Mostly just cleanup and updating of dependencies.  The only real notable changes are the increase to gimbal ranges on the RD-XXXX engines (all increased substantially), and some additional unlock nodes for tank sizes.  See the link for full change-log and downloads.  AVC, Curse, and Github have all been updated for this release.

[Domfluff]

Are the modular part sizes supposed to be restricted to different tech levels? I found the config file for this under data. I'm not finding them restricted in-game, and I wonder if I'm doing something wrong.

[Shadowmage]

2 minutes ago, Domfluff said:

Are the modular part sizes supposed to be restricted to different tech levels? I found the config file for this under data. I'm not finding them restricted in-game, and I wonder if I'm doing something wrong.

Yes, but only in career or science modes, and only.. most?... of the parts.  Fuel tanks, decouplers, fairings should all be size limited by current tech.  Engine mounts and cluster #'s are -not- limited by tech (as soon as you unlock the engine, all clusters and mount sizes are available).

The code running it all could have been broken recently... though it was working when I last checked my career game (about two weeks ago, right after 1.1.3 released).  Or there could be bugs in the implementation; I never could find a -clean- way to access the R&D data while first entering the editor, so already existing parts -may- default to being unlimited if a craft is already in the editor when you enter it (e.g. revert to VAB, or start a craft, leave VAB and return later).

I'll see about doing some investigation on it if anyone else can confirm the issue.

[Domfluff]

Interesting. I've only come across this (excellent) mod for the last couple of releases, but it's never been restricted in career for me.

[rasta013]

1 hour ago, Shadowmage said:

I'll see about doing some investigation on it if anyone else can confirm the issue.

I'll check my setup/game and see because as of the end of 1.1.2 for me (about 4 days ago) it was still working.  I just upgraded to 1.1.3 and am about to restart a career so will be able to verify pretty quickly if it's restricting access or not.

[Shadowmage]

More progress on the LR-81 engine -- have decided that I'll be doing two variants, the very-early/low-tech LR-81-8048 (short bell, lower ISP and thrust), and the higher-tech LR-81-8096 (longer/larger nozzle, higher ISP and thrust; model shown reflects the 8096 bell).

Anyhow, here is today's geometry work on it... cleaning up trusses, adding fuel lines, work on the gimbal ring(s) setup:

Might have the geometry finished up in a week or two at the current rate

[rasta013]

2 hours ago, Domfluff said:

Interesting. I've only come across this (excellent) mod for the last couple of releases, but it's never been restricted in career for me.

@ShadowmageOK - got the chance to test it this afternoon and yes, the restrictions are completely gone in career mode.  With only Basic Rocketry unlocked I can built 5m bodies!  My researchers must truly rock... 

Edited July 5, 2016 by rasta013

[Nnimrod]

Your modeling and texturing looks great. I will be using this

[Shadowmage]

12 minutes ago, rasta013 said:

@ShadowmageOK - got the chance to test it this afternoon and yes, the restrictions are completely gone in career mode.  With only Basic Rocketry unlocked I can built 5m bodies!  My researchers must truly rock... 

Thanks for the confirmation;  have opened a bug report regarding it where you can track the progress on it.

https://github.com/shadowmage45/SSTULabs/issues/327

I expect that I should be able to have this fixed up for this weekends' release.

[EVA_Reentry]

Hi! Not sure if this was answered on the OP, couldn't tell, but could you CKAN this?

[RedParadize]

Shadowmage said no to this multiple times I believe.

[rasta013]

3 minutes ago, EVA_Reentry/Strangelove II said:

Hi! Not sure if this was answered on the OP, couldn't tell, but could you CKAN this?

With all the problems that CKAN ends up causing the more complex the mod gets it's no wonder it's not up there.  All it seems to do is invite large support headaches that ends with :

"Did you install with CKAN?  Yes?  Ok, uninstall it and re-install manually and your problems should go away." 

CKAN essentially = 

[EVA_Reentry]

Ok but with manual install nothings shows up. With CKAN, other nods with similar issues do work

 So...

[rasta013]

Just now, EVA_Reentry/Strangelove II said:

Ok but with manual install nothings shows up. With CKAN, other nods with similar issues do work

 So...

I manually install every time personally and have never lost any parts.  That said, did you drop the SSTU folder directly into GameData and are you also using the SSTUTextures expansion and if so, dropped that also directly into GameData?  If you have done these things, do you have log files you can share?

[blowfish]

Not sure what Shadowmage's long-term plans are, but at the moment it seems like SSTU is still too volatile to reasonably support CKAN installs.  CKAN is really for stable, feature-complete mods.

You can install most of your mods via CKAN and have some installed manually though.  It generally works fine.

[Shadowmage]

 

More work on LR-81 geometry, nearly done on the initial creation pass and about to start on the fuel line baffles and cleanup/joining pass.  Have shortened the truss frame a bit (as nobody needs taller rockets just from the engine trusses...), and generally worked on getting the oddities of the gimbal mechanic reproduced (it has a bit of a strange setup to it).

 

[ComatoseJedi]

CKAN: There's a general consensus between people who use CKAN and love it to people who don't use it and never will like it. With this mod, in the state that it's in now, will never be on CKAN during development with reasonings obvious as on the lines of why there are no craft files for the current version of the mod. As Blowfish said, all that is up to Shadowmage if it hits CKAN or not. Personally, I don't use it for my main game play and manually install my mods so I'll know exactly what I am putting in there and what's needed to operate the mods through dependencies that CKAN, often or not, doesn't include. I did, however, use CKAN for RO, but that lasted a good week before I had to give up on it. 

And that engine is looking fantastic, Shadowmage. Another fine addition to your sterling mod!

[jdub3350]

Is there a trick to SRB's that I'm missing?  I attach them to radial decouplers and stage them to fire with the first stage liquid engines, but they don't add any TWR to the stage, they only subtract their weight.  For instance a 1st stage liquid engines only goes from a TWR of 1.05 to 0.60 or below once the SRB's are added.  Thanks! 

[rasta013]

1 hour ago, jdub3350 said:

Is there a trick to SRB's that I'm missing?  I attach them to radial decouplers and stage them to fire with the first stage liquid engines, but they don't add any TWR to the stage, they only subtract their weight.  For instance a 1st stage liquid engines only goes from a TWR of 1.05 to 0.60 or below once the SRB's are added.  Thanks! 

Have a copy of a craft file?  If so, drop it somewhere and I'll take a look at it and see if I can figure out what's going on.  I use SRB boosted first stages all the time - have one literally flying on the other screen right this very moment - so I know it works.