[1.2] Proton-M / Breeze-M

[InsaneDruid]

Do you still have the craft file or know which fairing base you used? (And if the briz upper stage was incorporated in that launch?).

[Delta_8930]

For me I used the craft file included in the pack. I also built a proton (with Breeze) with the extended fairings and I got the same results. 

Also the separation motors didn't seem to fire. The side A fairing sort of slipped off.

[InsaneDruid]

Did you stage the fairing or used right-click menu (or action groups)?

[Delta_8930]

Staged it. That was how it was listed in the craft file. 

[InsaneDruid]

Thanks. I keep investigating and trying to reproduce (which atm I cant, they seem to work ok). But i keep looking!

[InsaneDruid]

Good news: it was a bug in combination with oldscoolfairings. It is now fixed. Update to fix this will come later today.

 

EDIT: Hotfix is live.

I also decided that I am going to release the most current version of my production version on github in the next day(s) as a way to provide more repid builds to the public, for example for tuning the performance or other tweaks without disturbing the more "stable" build on kerbalstuff and ckan. Especially as the new version will be rotated 90 degree on its vertical axis to align its correct dorsal side with the other stock parts. So stay tuned.

Edited February 2, 2016 by InsaneDruid
Hotfix released

[InsaneDruid]

Some Progress.

Diffuse Textures are done for the Launchpad Parts:

TKS is nearing external completion (RCS in th works, some greeble left, like Igla receiver and anti-parallax antenna).

 

And no thats no cool sunshade Its a anti-multipath shield so that no stray signal bounced by the angular shape of the cone can enter the igla antenna.

[InsaneDruid]

The Mod is back online after the demise of KerbalStuff! I completely switched to GitHub and updated the CKAN entries as well, so everything should be working again. I took this opportunity to update the mod to the latest version, though still, the launch clamps aren't ready yet. I had planned to publish the update when they are done, but now I had to act quickly.

So what has changed? Most obvious, the craft is now correctly aligned in the VAB and on the pad regarding the direction of the dorsal side. You have to manually rotate the fairing bases and the payload adapters, though, as there is no possibility to change the split axis of stock procedural fairings. A two-sided fairing will always split into a left-right fashion, but the proton uses a dorsal/ventral split (upper and lower half of the fairing when the rocket is assembled horizontally in the MIK building.) So just press "e" once for these parts. The correct alignment can be checked by the wire tunnel on the third stage, which has it top counterpart located on the fairing bases. If these align, then everything is good. Of course, the pack contains updated .craft files for the complete booster and the upper stage.

Also there are some bug fixes and updates to the engines and fairings, mainly. The engine glow animation of the engines is back, though it might need to be toned down now for 1.0.5.

Then, I included a file that, when renamed from patch_engines_MASS.renamemetocfg to patch_engines_MASS.cfg will patch the engine stats to be more in line with the stock universe. I am currently rebalancing them, and this file is the first release of these changes. Basically, it changes the dry mass of the engines from a physically correct but out of balance sizeScale^3 (mass is dependent of volume) to be a function of ingameThrust*5. Then, I reduced the ISP to reduce the burn times.

 

In detail, here is how I calculate my stock part data:

• size is scaled by targetSize / realSize, for the proton, this is 2500mm / 4100mm = 0,60976
• from real live fuel and ox masses and their density, real fuel volume is calculated
• real fuel volume is scaled by sizeScale^3 (0,60976^3) as all the three axis are scaled by 0,60976
• based on their density, in game combined fuel/ox units are calculated and split in the usual 1:1.22 KSP ratio of fuel to oxidizer
• dry mass of the tanks would be sizeScale^3 (mass is dependant of volume) but it was always set to be a function of fuel+ox mass (combinedFuelMass*8,2)
  Overall, these steps produce tanks that are balanced nicely and are quite equivalent in mass and volume to part assemblies with matching dimensions built from stock parts.
• engine thrust is sizeScale^3 of real world figures.
  This is logically sound and seems to match the stock parts and produces nice thrust to weight ratios with the proton tanks.
• engine dry mass WAS sizeScale^3 of real world figures which would be logically, but it has been changed to be a function of thrust to weight.
  It is now thrust*5 with factor 5 being in between the stats of the reliant (5.8) and the skipper (4.6).
• ISP is calculated by thrust, fuel masses, burn time and g.
• burn time is now 0.7 of real world figures. This is my main set-screw to adjust the balance by now. As we all know the stock payloads are ABOUT 0.65 of the scale of their best matching counterparts in the real world, as well as size and (wrongly) also in mass (had to be sizeScale^3). So I set it in the realm of this scale, and increased it a bit, as 0.65 would give rather low ISP figures. 0.7 gives the vacuum engines ISP figures just shy of 300s.
  With this changes, the Proton can lift 14.3 tonnes (again, using the "wrong" formula of just using a 0.65 scale for payload masses like the stock capsules) easily and has some kerbal-esque reserves. If I'd scale it so that it could just make it to LKO with these numbers, ISP would be so low that using two reliants for each RD-275 would be the better (though silly looking) alternative.

Please give it a try and also it would be nice if you could give me some feedback. I think, for stock the adjusted numbers feel better than the old, completely overpowered ones. It's still overpowered compares to real live, but so are all stock ksp parts due to the different scales of sizes, planet sizes, gravity and densities.

[Dmitry-a-b]

Hello!

Great MOD, but with the latest update (I have) a problem:

RD-0210 heatshield doesn't stack with the second stage tank, this can not install RD-0210 engine.

Thanks!

 

P.S. solved the problem by using an subssembly

Edited February 17, 2016 by Dmitry-a-b

[InsaneDruid]

Yea, sometimes its a bit tricky to get the right node to snap.

Heres a trick I use (this works also on other parts & mods):

1. Connect a smaller part (like one RD-0210) to the center node of stage2.
2. Attach the heatshield to this part. This will usually work much better now.
3. Attach the four engines to the heatshield.
4. Disconnect the heatshield-engine assembly from the stack, but don't delete it.
5. Remove the single part you put on first.
6. The complete assembly of the heatshield + four engines will now attach nicely to the stage2 part.

[KaptnKiwi]

Hot damn son. Those Launch clamps looke amazing  Looking forward to release :3

[InsaneDruid]

Little status update:

The well-unknown live support module of the VA capsule is done. It's used to give the VA an extrended capability of operation time without the fgb and is jettisoned before reentry.

The also not-so-well-known parachute stack of the VA. Three main chutes, a pilot and a drogue, each with a spare for safety (only one shown each). And beeing russian, the whole assembly comes with integrated solid fuel braking engines for a little softer landing.

Your spaceship has rcs thrusters with only four nozzles? What a shame. 13 nozzles on a single RCS block! Now we are talking! Also note: more antennae. And a sturdy structure for the VA to sit on.

 

[StoryMusgrave]

This is fantastic work. Thank you so much for for a 1:1 scale model that can be adjusted to whatever people want.

[Kerbal01]

Does the crew have space to fit in the service module? Or is it just a giant fuel tank?

[InsaneDruid]

It has crew (and storage) capacity and it is even the cockpit for docking. Fuel is stored in the tanks added to the main structure.

[InsaneDruid]

"When it's done" is rather soon, now!

 

The Launchpad only needs some integrations of updates to one of the towers (the one without the fuel line needs a flatter roof) but it's in the game, i'ts working and it only needs two drawcalls for the whole assembly!  I completely overhauled the whole rigging to cut down drawcall costs. It iss now just one big mesh with 30 bones controlling the doors, arms, fuel lines, central tower and its roof. The other mesh is the actual concrete base.

[Delta_8930]

1 hour ago, InsaneDruid said:

"When it's done" is rather soon, now!

 

The Launchpad only needs some integrations of updates to one of the towers (the one without the fuel line needs a flatter roof) but it's in the game, i'ts working and it only needs two drawcalls for the whole assembly!  I completely overhauled the whole rigging to cut down drawcall costs. It iss now just one big mesh with 30 bones controlling the doors, arms, fuel lines, central tower and its roof. The other mesh is the actual concrete base.

You mean the retractable gantry?

[InsaneDruid]

No, all I meant the launchpad. With "towers" (which was probably dumb to call it like that) i was referring to one of the little metal "roofs" over the retractable holding arms. The Gantry itself would be a whole different story. And frankly, I don't really want do make one. To be realistic, the whole assembly and the pad should be inserted into the ground ("russian style"), not raised above it ("american style") which isnt easily possible. And we would need the train-based carrier/lifter. And the positioning of dorsal side vs launchpad is also off in ksp. (Dorsal=south, launchpad ramp=west) where dorsal should be 180 degree to the ramp. So just some nicely animated launchpad on a riser mesh.^^ At least for now.

 

[Delta_8930]

Ok, any ETA on the new update?

[InsaneDruid]

Update with launch pad is live on GitHub and Spacedock, see first post. CKAN should follow soon.

Some hints:

• The pad itself has two integrated generators that you can use for fueling and de-fueling the rocket to better simulate the launch procedure. Transfer the fuel from stage1 to stage 2 and 3 as it fills with alt-rightclick. (Breeze and Payload are fueled before erecting the proton on the pad).
• I did not add a "stretchy" base that would allow for the pad to be mounted in any height over the actual floor because it would look ridiculous wrong, so make sure to lower the rocket onto the VAB floor. It can't be placed too low and will always snap back to its perfect height even if you lower the base into the vab floor completely, so a bit lower is better than too high.
• Center the rocket in the vab for best resuls. The concrete floor  is made a bit smaller than the original pad to allow for some positioning errors, but it looks best centered (the position a newly spawned part has). I found assembling the whole complex, making the last part of the payload the root, detaching the rocket from this part, deleting the root part and respawning it (now its centered), followed by re-attaching the rocket and then use the offset tool to lower the whole assembly centered in the VAB onto the floor the easiest way to achive this.

 

PS: @Delta_8930 i was writing this text when you asked^^

[VenomousRequiem]

Looking good, man!

But... Ugh... @fs10inator ruined it for me. All I can think of when playing with this is this video...

 

Edit:

From what I've seen online, this is the typical flight path of a Proton, yeah?

 

Edited March 14, 2016 by VenomousRequiem

[fs10inator]

1 hour ago, VenomousRequiem said:

Ugh... @fs10inator ruined it for me. All I can think of when playing with this is this video...

Uhhh... sorry...?

Edited March 14, 2016 by fs10inator

[ErrHeadII]

Thanks for the fantastic Proton! However, (on realism overhaul) I had to add fuel lines from the second stage to the second stage engines as fuel doesn't seem to flow through the thrust plate.

[InsaneDruid]

I did a re-check with RO and they do work without a problem.

[Delta_8930]

Is anyone having issues where the RD_253 engines don't produce Surface FX (the smoke that comes out of the launchpads)?

I messed around with the cfg file, but still to no avail. 

PART
{
	// --- general parameters ---
	name = HGAProtonRD-253
	module = Part
	author = [HGA]InsaneDruid
	// --- asset parameters ---
	MODEL
	{
		model = HGA/Proton/parts/rd253
		scale = 0.60976,0.60976,0.60976
	}
	rescaleFactor = 1.0
	scale = 1.0
	// --- node definitions ---
	NODE
	{
		name = top
		transform = RD253_NodeTop
		size = 1
		method = FIXED_JOINT
	}
	NODE
	{
		name = topAlternate
		transform = RD253_NodeTop_Alternate
		size = 1
		method = FIXED_JOINT
	}
	NODE
	{
		name = bottom
		transform = RD253_NodeBottom
		size = 1
		method = FIXED_JOINT
	}
	// --- editor parameters ---
	TechRequired = heavierRocketry
	entryCost = 3500
	cost = 4300
	category = Engine
	subcategory = 0
	title = Proton RD-253 Engine
	manufacturer = KPO Kerbomash
	description = RD-253 Engine, used in the first stage of the PROTON heavy launcher.
	attachRules = 1,0,1,0,0
	stageOffset = 1
	childStageOffset = 1
	// --- standard part parameters ---
	mass = 1.655
	heatConductivity = 0.06 // half default
	skinInternalConductionMult = 4.0
	emissiveConstant = 0.8 // engine nozzles are good at radiating.
	dragModelType = default
	maximum_drag = 0.2
	minimum_drag = 0.2
	angularDrag = 2
	crashTolerance = 7
	maxTemp = 2000 // = 3600
	bulkheadProfiles = size2
	// --- FX definitions ---
	EFFECTS
	{
		running
		{
			AUDIO
			{
				channel = Ship
				clip = sound_rocket_spurts
				volume = 0.0 0.0
				volume = 1.0 0.90
				pitch = 0.0 0.8
				pitch = 1.0 0.8
				loop = true
			}
			MODEL_MULTI_PARTICLE
			{
				modelName = Squad/FX/ks1_Exhaust
				transformName = RD253_ThrustTransform
				emission = 0.0 0.0
				emission = 1.0 1.5
				speed = 0.0 0.8
				speed = 1.0 1.0
				energy = 0.0 0.33
				energy = 1.0 0.88
			}
			PREFAB_PARTICLE
			{
				prefabName = fx_smokeTrail_light
				transformName = RD253_SmokeTransform
				emission = 0.0 0.0
				emission = 0.05 0.0
				emission = 0.075 0.25
				emission = 1.0 1.25
				speed = 0.0 0.25
				speed = 1.0 1.0
				localOffset = 0, 0, 0
			}
		}
		engage
		{
			AUDIO
			{
				channel = Ship
				clip = sound_vent_medium
				loop = false
			}
		}
		disengage
		{
			AUDIO
			{
				channel = Ship
				clip = sound_vent_soft
				loop = false
			}
		}
	}	
	// --- module parameters ---
	MODULE
	{
		name = ModuleEnginesFX
		thrustVectorTransformName = RD253_ThrustTransform
		runningEffectName = running
		engineID = RD-253
		exhaustDamage = True
		ignitionThreshold = 0.1
		minThrust = 0
		maxThrust = 369.543
		heatProduction = 200
		fxOffset = 0, 0, 10.0
		EngineType = LiquidFuel
		PROPELLANT
		{
			name = LiquidFuel
			ratio = 0.9
			DrawGauge = True
		}
		PROPELLANT
		{
			name = Oxidizer
			ratio = 1.1
		}
		atmosphereCurve
		{
			key = 0 255
			key = 1 215
			key = 6 0.001
		}
	}
	MODULE
	{
		name = ModuleGimbal
		gimbalTransformName = RD253_ThrustTransform
		gimbalRange  = 3.0
		responseSpeed = 25
	}
	MODULE
	{
		name = FXModuleAnimateThrottle
		animationName = HeatEmissiveAnimation
		responseSpeed = 0.001
		dependOnEngineState = True
		dependOnThrottle = True
	}
	MODULE
	{
		name = ModuleSurfaceFX
		thrustProviderModuleIndex = 0
		fxMax = 0.9
		maxDistance = 75
		falloff = 1.75
		thrustTransformName = thrustTransform
	}
}

I might have missed something, but I changed the "Module Surface FX" values to that of a stock engine and it still doesn't work.