[Min KSP: 1.12.2] Pathfinder - Space Camping & Geoscience

[RadGH]

That does answer a lot of my questions. I did set it to pristine mode but when I first started playing, I may have switched to  CRP. I will do a clean install to be sure, thanks for the suggestion.

I could look at Snacks instead of USI/Tac. I didn't realize I needed a Hacienda module for food production, so that is probably the missing link there too.

I also didn't know the blacksmith was from OSE Workshop. I wasn't sure I needed that if I had EPL so I got rid of OSE Workshops. That explains why it vanished!

Thanks for the help, I think that will clear a lot of things up after I do a fresh install.

[capi3101]

Glad I could be of help. Let us know if you continue to experience any issues.

Smart Engineer in a Hacienda gets many things working. These days with a fresh base I bring two along... 

Edited March 7, 2020 by capi3101

[RadGH]

Another question: Is there any way to reduce the amount of spontaneous explosions? I installed World Stabilizer which helps a little bit, but still have constant explosions when docking (any method). Also things like to randomly explode, even if they are built on the muncrete slab and "welded" to the ground with KAS, and then the modile like Ponderos attached radially to the node on top. They still tend to sink and float during time warp. If docked, they also teleport around at weird angles. Not to mention everything slides around when full of materials, probably related to weight.

Sadly after all the effort I've put in to  try Pathfinder I'm realizing the game is just not stable enough to build bases. But someone must have found a way around all these issues?! Am I missing something?

 

(Also, how do you get Minerals? used to create fertilizer)

Edited March 8, 2020 by RadGH

[capi3101]

2 hours ago, RadGH said:

Another question: Is there any way to reduce the amount of spontaneous explosions? I installed World Stabilizer which helps a little bit, but still have constant explosions when docking (any method). Also things like to randomly explode, even if they are built on the muncrete slab and "welded" to the ground with KAS, and then the modile like Ponderos attached radially to the node on top. They still tend to sink and float during time warp. If docked, they also teleport around at weird angles. Not to mention everything slides around when full of materials, probably related to weight.

Sadly after all the effort I've put in to  try Pathfinder I'm realizing the game is just not stable enough to build bases. But someone must have found a way around all these issues?! Am I missing something?

 

(Also, how do you get Minerals? used to create fertilizer)

I've had quite a number of issues building my bases and you're right in that the game could stand to be more stable than it is as far as this mod is concerned (also using World Stabilizer). Here's what I can offer:

1. Quicksave frequently. Like, every time you attach a new module to your base, quicksave it. This will save you the frustration of having to start completely from scratch.
2. Have the airbrake turned on while you're working on your base. This tends to keep things from sliding around too much.
3. Conversely, when you're done working for a while, disengage the airbrake before heading out. Most of the time when the whole damn thing goes up (by which I mean the base module), it's when you first load up the base after having left the airbrake on. If you forget but realize it later, KML can help you disengage the thing.
4. If you see something start to shake itself loose, hit the timewarp button. That'll put it like it should be. When you get out of warp, disengage the airbrake, quicksave, then go to some other craft. Then come back. Tends to help.
5. Don't attach KAS resource transfer stations to your base. They really make things glitch out. If you need to attach things, use Mineshaft Crew Tubes - they're just as good. These days I would say they may even be easier to use.  

Now, as far as finding any resource is concerned (we'll go with Minerals here but it applies to any resource), you can't just plop a base down and hope for the best in my experience. You need to send a probe ahead to take orbital surface biome readings. This process is now second on my to-do list upon first visiting a new world (behind establishing a communications satellite constellation). You need a probe with a M4435 Narrow-Band Scanner aboard, preferably in a polar orbit so you can gather readings from all of the surface biomes. You have to use KerbNet access to get the reading. Basically though, you're looking for non-zero readings for the resource in question; if you have a non-zero reading anywhere in a given biome, it'll be that way everywhere in that biome. Conversely, if you get a zero reading, you're not going to find it in that biome. 

I use CRP mode - the seven resources I look for (in order of importance) are Rare Metals, Minerals, Metal Ore (not Metallic Ore, which is something different), Ore, Uraninite, Exotic Minerals and Rock. A base really can't be established somewhere where the first two aren't in some level of abundance. Bring a Micro ISRU along and you can use it to manufacture Equipment to expand your base if you don't have both Rare Metals and Exotic Minerals available, which in my experience is a fairly common occurrence. Uraninite's on the list for fission reactors later on in your base development. Bring 6 SAFERs and you'll have more enough to get by during the early part of base building; you want your bases on nuclear as soon as possible so you're not limited by the availability of Kerbol-light.

With Classic Stock, I think the equivalent resource to Rare Metals is Precious Metals, with Minerite replacing Minerals. Couldn't say about the others.

If you have difficulties with any specific aspect of the process, say something and I'll see about walking you through it. I've got Pathfinder bases on every world except Eeloo (Kerbin included), and that's only because I haven't landed kerbals there just yet. 

Edited March 9, 2020 by capi3101

[RadGH]

Wow, thanks for the very detailed response. Again!

All of that information is very helpful! I expected Minerals was something to manufacture, not mine, that makes more sense though. I haven't set up any bases yet and have only been playing around on the home planet. I forgot to mention that I am using Beyond Home for some different planets but it's not drastically different as far as the ore distribution and setting up other bases  goes.

Thanks a bunch, very helpful! It sounds like there's some finicky things to deal with but nothing I can't deal with. I'll give it another go and hope to get a base on another planet soon.

I am hoping the manufacturing process is easier in my case as I intentionally did not use MKS, to eliminate the need for Specialized Parts. The ISRU is worth taking a look at but I need some science first. I'll get a probe scanning for ores in the mean time

[capi3101]

Glad to have been of some help.

Note that for taking biome resource readings, you can also use a surface scanner mounted to a rover if you want. I prefer the probe route though as you cover a lot more ground more quickly. That said, I still send down a scout rover once I've got a target site in mind, first to verify that my orbital readings were correct (some of those biomes are fairly narrow and it can be hard to catch all the readings you want to take before the scansat moves out of range), and second to check the slope of the terrain. Which brings me to something I left out: the flatter the terrain, the fewer problems you tend to encounter in my experience.

Kerbal Konstructs can be used to flatten out terrain if you've got a great site on all counts except for a 45°+ grade. If you choose to use it, send a relatively disposable scout rover to the site; the flattening process tends to send rovers flying. A trick there, though, is to quicksave, flatten the terrain and then quickload if your scout rover doesn't survive being hurled off the surface. The flattening data will still be there when the game loads back up and your rover will suddenly find itself on a smoother bit of regolith.

Don't rightly recall if I have any more general advice for now.

EDIT: "45°+ grade" is a hyperbolic statement...you can really use KK on any patch of land you want. Figured I should clarify that.

Edited March 9, 2020 by capi3101

[DStaal]

The other piece of advice I'd give - and it's somewhat counter-intuitive - is *don't* attach to the ground if you can help it.  At least, not for long-term bases and such.  Exact placement of things after a scene reload tends to vary by a bit, and anything directly attached to the ground isn't going to handle that well.

[Space Kadet]

On 3/9/2020 at 4:38 AM, RadGH said:

 

i use to be a big user of the mks gear and slowly swapped it all out. my reccomendation would be to bin USI ls and change to snacks (same maker as pathfinder) or goto TACLS if you want more complexity both of them work a hell of a lot better in my experience performance wise. and pulling out all the mks gear reduced alot of the explosions i got and part drifting when loading into bases. 

also if you experience save corruption or glitches whenr you cant save, thats usually kerbal alarm clock thats the culprate.

And just a random tip, but Knes and tundra exploration (spacex) are both compatable with pathfinder

[RadGH]

I originally used Tac-LS back when there weren't many life support options. I switched to USI-LS because of the simplification and I liked the  habitat feature.  I did most recently switch to Snacks. I stopped using MKS because I liked the looks of the pathfinder parts. But that made no difference, everything is still explodey.

Sadly I stopped playing. Despite everyone's suggestions, and tips from discord, it's still too broken.

I got all the parts unlocked, and I got all the production chains figured out, and I got the life support system figured out. I got a probe to scan for ores on several planets,  found a site for a base that has the essentials. I put a lander down.

But ever since, it's just explosions, editing save files, using cheats to mess with gravity and part breaking,. After all of that it's just the roll of a dice if it works or if I need to quickload. Not to mention some memory leaks of some kind that slowly make the game stutter. Can't take it

Edited March 13, 2020 by RadGH

[Space Kadet]

On 3/13/2020 at 4:57 AM, RadGH said:

I originally used Tac-LS back when there weren't many life support options. I switched to USI-LS because of the simplification and I liked the  habitat feature.  I did most recently switch to Snacks. I stopped using MKS because I liked the looks of the pathfinder parts. But that made no difference, everything is still explodey.

Sadly I stopped playing. Despite everyone's suggestions, and tips from discord, it's still too broken.

I got all the parts unlocked, and I got all the production chains figured out, and I got the life support system figured out. I got a probe to scan for ores on several planets,  found a site for a base that has the essentials. I put a lander down.

But ever since, it's just explosions, editing save files, using cheats to mess with gravity and part breaking,. After all of that it's just the roll of a dice if it works or if I need to quickload. Not to mention some memory leaks of some kind that slowly make the game stutter. Can't take it

What mods are you using(vessel mover?)? i dont get these bugs, and ive had the same kerbal game open for over a day? so it must be in something else.  do you have any planet modifaction or structures?

 

and do you ahve trajectories? ive jsut learned that was beasting my computer during reentry

 

[Friznit]

How do you mine minerals?

I'm playing JNSQ in CRP mode (KSP 1.8.1).  I've scanned with ScanSat and there's a 2% abundance of minerals but the the excavators don't appear to have the capability to mine it - only Ore (Surface Harvester).  The Gold Digger excavator appears to be missing for some reason too (could that be related to restock?)

[capi3101]

21 minutes ago, Friznit said:

How do you mine minerals?

I'm playing JNSQ in CRP mode (KSP 1.8.1).  I've scanned with ScanSat and there's a 2% abundance of minerals but the the excavators don't appear to have the capability to mine it - only Ore (Surface Harvester).  The Gold Digger excavator appears to be missing for some reason too (could that be related to restock?)

You need to have one of your storage parts configured for Minerals. A simple buckboard will do the trick. A dedicated Chuckwagon or an OmniStorage unit (i.e. any of the Castillos or a Rangeland launchpad) set for Minerals will also work.

That's the way it works for many of the resources, incidentally - took me a while to figure out that to get Slag I needed to have Slag storage somewheres...

If you do happen to have Minerals storage somewhere already, let me take a look at your base. With JNSQ involved I imagine you'll need some help at some point anyway (I'm thinking it'll come if/when you want to use Pipelines if not before).

[Angelo Kerman]

Create a Pathfinder.restockwhitelist text file somewhere in GameData.

Open that file.

Paste the following:

Squad/Parts/Resources/RadialDrill/

Save and exit the file.

Restart KSP.

That will fix the missing Gold Digger drill when using JNSQ.

Edited March 27, 2020 by Angel-125

[Bombaatu]

@Angel-125 and/or @JadeOfMaar - I know I've asked this before in various forums but can't find or remember the answer if I ever got one. Can OSE work with the Classic Stock Resources that comes with Pathfinder, or does it require Community Resource Pack to function if CSR is installed? I've asked @linuxgurugamer in the OSE thread but he didn't know & doesn't have time to research it. Do either of you know?

Edited March 31, 2020 by Bombaatu

[Angelo Kerman]

5 hours ago, Bombaatu said:

@Angel-125 and/or @JadeOfMaar - I know I've asked this before in various forums but can't find or remember the answer if I ever got one. Can OSE work with the Classic Stock Resources that comes with Pathfinder, or does it require Community Resource Pack to function if CSR is installed? I've asked @linuxgurugamer in the OSE thread but he didn't know & doesn't have time to research it. Do either of you know?

Last time I checked, I didn't have any problems with using Classic Stock with OSE Workshop.

[moguy16]

does this support kerbalism? thank you

@Angel-125

Edited April 5, 2020 by moguy16

[Angelo Kerman]

On 4/1/2020 at 7:10 AM, moguy16 said:

does this support kerbalism? thank you

@Angel-125

No support for Kerbalism.

[moguy16]

4 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

No support for Kerbalism.

Sad, thanks though

[zumadawg18]

I'm having an issue where the progress bar will reach 100% but the part will not output into inventory using the pathfinder blacksmith workshop. 

Looking the the log output, it says:

"[Error - OSE] OSEModuleWorkshop_OnUpdate

Exception: InvalidCastException: Specified Cast is not Valid"

What does this error mean? I have Engineers in the part, and it has positive productivity. I have enough MaterialKits to make the part, so I'm at a loss with this one. I've updated to the dev version of mechjeb as others have suggested, and am running OSE 1.2.14 like another user suggested fixed their game. Any suggestions? 

 

After some more experimentation, it appears that this issue is specific to the pathfinder blacksmith lab. I used the normal OSE Workshop and there was no issue producing the part. So mod interaction issue I guess. Any ideas? 

[Shuttle Enthuasist124]

Hello Angel125 , i am using ksp 1.7.2 . Can you tell me which version of pathfinder should I use

[Angelo Kerman]

4 hours ago, Shuttle Enthuasist124 said:

Hello Angel125 , i am using ksp 1.7.2 . Can you tell me which version of pathfinder should I use

https://github.com/Angel-125/Pathfinder/releases/tag/v1.33.5

[Shuttle Enthuasist124]

Just now, Angel-125 said:

https://github.com/Angel-125/Pathfinder/releases/tag/v1.33.5

Thanks bro 

[Shuttle Enthuasist124]

Hello Angel125. I tried it but there was no parts of the mod in the version

[Krakatoa]

8 hours ago, Shuttle Enthuasist124 said:

Hello Angel125. I tried it but there was no parts of the mod in the version

You installed incorrectly. Please follow normal troubleshooting steps for more in depth help, and check the OP to see how things are supposed to be placed in GameData.

[zumadawg18]

@Angel-125 have you been experiencing any compatibility issues with ose workshop in 1.9? Anytime I try to produce anything in the workshop it throws the following log error:

Error - OSE] OSEModuleWorkshop_OnUpdate

Exception: InvalidCastException: Specified Cast is not Valid

 

It appears looking back through the log file that the blacksmith can't find a valid inventory, and so the production will just sit at 100% and not complete and the item be stored. When i use the normal OSE workshop by itself there isn't any issue, but once I use the blacksmith or connect an ose workshop to pathfinder parts, it seems like pathfinder causes it to break. Any ideas? 

Edited May 5, 2020 by zumadawg18