[1.12.x] USI Core (Reactors and Kontainers)

[RoverDude]

To be fair, the whole boil off/cooling  thing is irrelevant as that's not a stock behavior.  I'm fine making sure the volumes and compression are matched (a lot of this I expect is tied to Xenon never getting its proper balance pass in stock) - i.e. if a tank contains 1000L of LFO, it would contain 5000L of most CRP resources, or more if Nertea is using a specific volume multiplier.  But the tank wet/dry ratios are ones I would like to keep consistent unless there's some compelling thing I am missing.

[Domfluff]

Oh, 100%, and I'm not asking you to account for Nertea's mod - but the (presumably) too-dense Kontainers combined with being free zero-boil off makes them by far the optimal choice for advanced propulsion, to the detriment of the whole.

That's a shame, since the two mod suites both add tons of value to KSP, and complement each other nicely. Especially since Nertea's started producing 5m and 7.5m rocket parts, so delivering large mass bases becomes a lot more elegant.

+1 vote for Wyzard's PR, basically

[RoverDude]

@Domfluff - then for that situation, the best thing would be a module manager patch that adds the boil-off/cooling constraints.

[Wyzard]

Most of the kontainer tanks do have boiloff for cryo fuels already — there's a CryoTanks.cfg in the Kontainers folder that adds it.  But it looks like the quad-round tank and all the cluster tanks were overlooked, so they don't get boiloff.  I'll fix CryoTanks.cfg to apply to those too.

I'll make the argon density change and add it to my PR later today.  I plan to multiply the USI tanks' argon capacity by 3.2, representing a tank pressure change from the current 100atm (100 units per liter) to NearFuture's 320atm (320 units per liter).

@RoverDude, I think what Domfluff meant about kontainer tanks being "so much better" is that the cylindrical liquid tanks, at least, have 25% bonus volume across the board.  A USI cylindrical kontainer tank holds 25% more LFO than the same-sized stock tank, 25% more LH2 than the same-sized NearFuture cryo tank, and after the argon pressure change, it'll hold 25% more argon than the same-sized NearFuture argon tank.  This isn't an issue with individual resource configs, it's just the tank's volume across the board for all resources.  (The volume of the spherical and cluster tanks might also be too large, but I'm not sure how to check since there are no stock spherical or cluster tanks to compare against.)

(I've checked all the resourceAmounts for all the kontainers, btw, and verified that they all represent the same tank volume within each part.  Argon pressure aside, the only discrepancy is that there was 4x too much LH2, which I've changed in my PR.  Everything else looks OK and consistent between different resource configs on the same part.)

Edited October 23, 2017 by Wyzard

[Wyzard]

OK, I've added the ArgonGas pressure/capacity change to my PR #97, and I created another PR for the LH2 boiloff fix (since it's an independent change, not really related to the fuel switcher): #98

I think the only remaining significant issue that I know of is the 25% bonus volume thing, and that's a can of worms (as RoverDude said) that I'm OK with not getting into right now.  So I'd say my two PRs are "finished", unless anyone knows of other issues related to the kontainers' fuel switcher or cryo boiloff.

@RoverDude, I just noticed that there are two other open PRs (#68 and #93) that address some of the same issues I fixed in my PR #97, though they have some mistakes (which might be why you haven't merged them).  If you're going through your PR list, please don't merge those two at this point, because they'll conflict with mine that includes those fixes plus others.  #68 and #93 can be closed after #97 is merged.

[RoverDude]

Thanks, @Wyzard

If you do want to get punchy, ping me off-forum and we can discuss what would need to happen to do an across the board update.

[NermNermNerm]

I can't figure out how to transfer Enriched Uranium around.  I've got a vessel that's got a mess of Enriched Uranium on-board, but there seems to be no way to directly transfer it.  Local Logistics doesn't show the resource in the list (even though I've got two ships with "Nuclear Fuel Containers" in range of each other.  So I tried docking the two together, but no joy there either - if I alt-click the two tanks, it won't show me the UI to transfer resources between tanks.  Also, if I switch on "Planetary Warehouse", it doesn't behave properly for that either - the tank is full and flipping the bit doesn't put it in planetary storage.  (Yes, I've got the Logistics Module on-board and the planetary resources is working fine for LFOX etc.)

Wild-ass guess - "Enriched Uranium" is missing some setting somewhere that tells it it's a resource?

[NermNermNerm]

Warning: Newbs at play.

Or has it just plain gone missing?  I don't see an entry here:

https://github.com/UmbraSpaceIndustries/USI_Core/tree/master/FOR_RELEASE/GameData/CommunityResourcePack/ResourceConfigs

Edit: Nope.  Wrong.  It's line 608,  here:

https://github.com/UmbraSpaceIndustries/USI_Core/blob/master/FOR_RELEASE/GameData/CommunityResourcePack/CommonResources.cfg

But it looks very much like an intentional choice, not a mistake.

Edited November 1, 2017 by NermNermNerm

[goldenpsp]

1 hour ago, NermNermNerm said:

I can't figure out how to transfer Enriched Uranium around.  I've got a vessel that's got a mess of Enriched Uranium on-board, but there seems to be no way to directly transfer it.  Local Logistics doesn't show the resource in the list (even though I've got two ships with "Nuclear Fuel Containers" in range of each other.  So I tried docking the two together, but no joy there either - if I alt-click the two tanks, it won't show me the UI to transfer resources between tanks.  Also, if I switch on "Planetary Warehouse", it doesn't behave properly for that either - the tank is full and flipping the bit doesn't put it in planetary storage.  (Yes, I've got the Logistics Module on-board and the planetary resources is working fine for LFOX etc.)

Wild-ass guess - "Enriched Uranium" is missing some setting somewhere that tells it it's a resource?

Try transferring on EVA with an engineer.  You wanna be careful with that stuff.

[NermNermNerm]

7 minutes ago, goldenpsp said:

1 hour ago, NermNermNerm said:

I can't figure out how to transfer Enriched Uranium around.  I've got a vessel that's got a mess of Enriched Uranium on-board, but there seems to be no way to directly transfer it.  Local Logistics doesn't show the resource in the list (even though I've got two ships with "Nuclear Fuel Containers" in range of each other.  So I tried docking the two together, but no joy there either - if I alt-click the two tanks, it won't show me the UI to transfer resources between tanks.  Also, if I switch on "Planetary Warehouse", it doesn't behave properly for that either - the tank is full and flipping the bit doesn't put it in planetary storage.  (Yes, I've got the Logistics Module on-board and the planetary resources is working fine for LFOX etc.)

Wild-ass guess - "Enriched Uranium" is missing some setting somewhere that tells it it's a resource?

Try transferring on EVA with an engineer.  You wanna be careful with that stuff.

How?  Right clicking on the tank doesn't do anything special...

OIC, Perform Maintenance on the reactor pulls it from storage.  But if you have a facility that produces the stuff on one side of the planet, and you need to fuel a reactor on the other, how would you go about it?  I guess use KIS/KIS to move the fuel container from ship to ship?

Edited November 1, 2017 by NermNermNerm

[DStaal]

8 hours ago, NermNermNerm said:

How?  Right clicking on the tank doesn't do anything special...

OIC, Perform Maintenance on the reactor pulls it from storage.  But if you have a facility that produces the stuff on one side of the planet, and you need to fuel a reactor on the other, how would you go about it?  I guess use KIS/KIS to move the fuel container from ship to ship?

Yep, basically.  Perform Maintenance will also pull from nearby vessels, so you don't have to connect on that end.  Wish I had some pics of the last time I did this: I had some flatbed rovers with nuclear fuel containers mounted on them that had KAS ports on the side.  Hook them up to the production facility, fill them up, then run them across (take a look at Bon Voyage for that) and perform maintenance.

[WuphonsReach]

I wonder if decreasing the EC per unit of Enriched Uranium by a factor of 10x would help with the catch-up mechanics actually consuming fuel in the smaller reactors.  Naturally, the storage space in the various reactors would have to increase by a factor of 10 as well.

(I have a 1.25m short reactor, running at 45% load, with 2y282d on the mission clock and still zero fuel used up.)

[RoverDude]

I'm fine taking a peek at balance (and would look at other mods to balance against), but want to be careful about radically changing the numbers, since it can have a negative impact on bases already out there.

[WuphonsReach]

Well, I tried it out on the 0.625 and 1.25-short reactors.  

Even boosting to 100x the Enriched Uranium consumption per second didn't move the needle when the vessel was not in focus. Resource catch-up mechanics either require even higher EU/sec values, or none of the reactors actually consume Enriched Uranium when not in focus.

[RoverDude]

42 minutes ago, WuphonsReach said:

Well, I tried it out on the 0.625 and 1.25-short reactors.  

Even boosting to 100x the Enriched Uranium consumption per second didn't move the needle when the vessel was not in focus. Resource catch-up mechanics either require even higher EU/sec values, or none of the reactors actually consume Enriched Uranium when not in focus.

Very likely stock EC scaling then.  So a very different mechanic would need to be used, likely with a new part module.

[LEGIONBOSS]

Hi!

I'd like to propose a small addition to the KIS Kontainer parts in this mod. Could you add a cck-containers tag to those parts in a future update for some sweet CCK support?

Thank you! 

[goldenpsp]

2 hours ago, LEGIONBOSS said:

Hi!

I'd like to propose a small addition to the KIS Kontainer parts in this mod. Could you add a cck-containers tag to those parts in a future update for some sweet CCK support?

Thank you! 

@RoverDude takes pull requests.

[LEGIONBOSS]

11 hours ago, goldenpsp said:

@RoverDude takes pull requests.

Gotcha

[BlackWing Pilot]

hello @RoverDude, I have a problem with usi core. Why there is no resource in the container?

[RoverDude]

Can you provide a screenshot or more specifics?  And show me a pic of your GameData folder please, and confirm KSP version

[RoverDude]

New Release is up.  NOTE:  This is the final 1.3.1 release (pending any major issues).   

0.5.1 - 2017.03.06
------------------
Updated CryoTanks compatibility for better interop and consistency (Thanks Wyzard256!)
Multiple kontainer amount/cost fixes (Thanks Wyzard256!)
 

[Fireheart318]

dOeS iT Werk wif 1.4?

 

I was wondering if you could add and modify a few parts - Maybe allow Karborundum in the karry kans, allow all resources in everything, add smaller ball containers, smaller cylinder containers kontainer tanks, and maybe throw in a tiny radiator and shortened 0.625m reactor while you're at it. I understand you've probably got your hands full with updating to 1.4 but I think adding those few parts would REALLY improve the mod.

Edited March 14, 2018 by Fireheart318

[goldenpsp]

16 hours ago, Fireheart318 said:

dOeS iT Werk wif 1.4?

 

I was wondering if you could add and modify a few parts - Maybe allow Karborundum in the karry kans, allow all resources in everything, add smaller ball containers, smaller cylinder containers kontainer tanks, and maybe throw in a tiny radiator and shortened 0.625m reactor while you're at it. I understand you've probably got your hands full with updating to 1.4 but I think adding those few parts would REALLY improve the mod.

A lot of those things are easily handled via config file edits, and @RoverDude is happy to accept pull requests.

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[Murdabenne]

Is this the right thread to check for updates?  I went to the GitHub page and it was linked to this forum but the forum software says this is "quite old". 

 

[RoverDude]

USI Core tends to be bundled with other stuff, so not much chatting in this thread

The current version works fine with 1.5.x, the Constellation release has the current pre-releases (no major changes in core, but testing out some MKS changes).