[1.3.0] KSP Chroma Control

[FauserneEist]

This mod adds keyboard lighting functionality to Kerbal Space Program. Talking about it really doesn't do it much good. Take a look at this awesome video from GameInstructor, who tested the mod and explains it very comprehensively: 

 

Features

• Function keys 1 to 0 are only lit, if the underlying action group actually does anything. The keys are displayed in two different colors, depending on whether the action group is toggled or not.
• The keys for SAS, RCS, Gears, Lights and the Brakes are lit up in different colors, indicating if the respective system was activated or not.
• The amount of resources in the current stage is displayed on your keypad and the keys to the left of it (PrtScr, ScrLk, ..., PageDown)
• The color of W, A, S, D, E and Q varies slightly depending on whether you're in precision or normal steering mode
• The keys for timewarp control are lit either red for physics timewarp or green for normal timewarp

Full list of game effects

• Stylized Kerbal Space Program logo that fades in on every scene that does not contain any noteworthy keyboard interaction (pressing Escape to go to the menu not being noteworthy enough to light up the key)
• In the vessel editor, different kinds of keysets are lit up according to the current editor mode.
• Control keys and toggleable function keys are lit up in different colors, showing whether the function is switched on or off during flight.
• Reduced keyset lit for EVA mode
• Resource gauges displayed on the keypad and the keys above the UpDownLeftRight keys.
• Power failure animation on vessels that need power to be controllable
• Crash animation that triggers when crashing a vessel's root part
• Splashdown animation that triggers, when landing on water.
• Vessel electricity status displayed on any Razer mouse and mousepad connected
• Vessel heat displayed in three colors (blue = cool, red = warm/hot, yellow = you're in trouble), uses the scrollwheel and logo on mice and the bottom LEDs on the mousepad, as well as the keyboard logo.
• "Dear GF, please don't disturb me now" feature on the headset. The device is colored red, when you can't quicksave right now. Turns green once quicksave is allowed again.
• Vessel height above ground displayed on F1 to F4 keys (F1 = 10m, F2 = 50m, F3 = 100m, F4 = 1000m). The intensity changes, e.g. if F1 is fully lit and F2 is half lit, you are 30 meters above ground.

Installation

1. Unzip the release archive and place the KSPChromaControl folder in your KSP GameData directory.
2. Start KSP and witness the awesomeness of highlighted function keys while kerbaling through space
3. (optional) Move the file ChromaAppInfo.xml from the mod folder into the KSP folder, to allow Synapse to recognize the game properly.

 

@zer0Kerbal is now the maintainer!

Download:

• https://github.com/cguckes/ksp-chroma/releases
• http://mods.curse.com/ksp-mods/kerbal/244127-ksp-chroma-control

License: GPLv3

Enjoy!

Edited September 17, 2021 by FauserneEist
Update information

[PrevailingSpace]

Dude, that is so cool!  

[FauserneEist]

Thanks. If you have a chroma device, please test it, I'm looking for feedback and constructive criticism. :-)

[PrevailingSpace]

21 minutes ago, FauserneEist said:

Thanks. If you have a chroma device, please test it, I'm looking for feedback and constructive criticism. :-)

I do actually, the Blackwidow Chroma keyboard. Everything worked well, even after closing the game my previous setup went back to normal. It felt very responsive when going on EVA the lighting changed almost immediately.

[FauserneEist]

Just now, PrevailingSpace said:

I do actually, the Blackwidow Chroma keyboard. Everything worked well, even after closing the game my previous setup went back to normal. It felt very responsive when going on EVA the lighting changed almost immediately.

Well, that's not an achievement I can claim for myself. Most of the props should go to the guys at Razer and the people who develop the Colore C# library (https://github.com/CoraleStudios/Colore) that allows me to manipulate the keyboard.

[RedDestiny]

Hey this sounds really cool. unfortunately I do not have a chroma keyboard but I was wondering if you (or someone) could post pictures of it in action. I think it would be awesome and you know it be like advertising or something lol (no pics no clicks??)

[FauserneEist]

41 minutes ago, RedDestiny said:

Hey this sounds really cool. unfortunately I do not have a chroma keyboard but I was wondering if you (or someone) could post pictures of it in action. I think it would be awesome and you know it be like advertising or something lol (no pics no clicks??)

I'm working on adding a few light effects for the next release, as soon as that's done, I'm gonna post a video of it in action. Also I'm waiting for a Chroma mouse to arrive, to add effects to that, too. I would have done something a bit earlier, but my gf has the only halfway decent camera in our flat and she works in Austria during the week...

[Guest]

Sweet! Thanks so much for writing this. You saved me the trouble of coming up with a workable colour scheme. 

[FauserneEist]

Updated to version 1.0, only small changes, got greenlit from razer for the razer appstore :-)

[Rohaq]

Blackwidow Chroma here - Does anyone else have any issues with their layout constantly flashing from their default profile and the KSP Chroma profile?

[FauserneEist]

4 hours ago, Rohaq said:

Blackwidow Chroma here - Does anyone else have any issues with their layout constantly flashing from their default profile and the KSP Chroma profile?

I'll need some more information to get to the bottom of this:

1. Is KSP listed in the Chroma apps list in Synapse? If so, are there any apps that have a higher priority (are above of) KSP?

2. When you start the game, does the flashing happen instantly or only when entering flight mode / editor mode?

3. It would be nice to have some log output, can you send me the content of %KSPFolder%/KSP_x64_Data/output.txt in a private message or as an issue on github?

[Rohaq]

8 hours ago, FauserneEist said:

I'll need some more information to get to the bottom of this:

1. Is KSP listed in the Chroma apps list in Synapse? If so, are there any apps that have a higher priority (are above of) KSP?

2. When you start the game, does the flashing happen instantly or only when entering flight mode / editor mode?

3. It would be nice to have some log output, can you send me the content of %KSPFolder%/KSP_x64_Data/output.txt in a private message or as an issue on github?

1. Yes, and it's highest priority.

2. It's instant, I can definitely see your layout appearing, but my keyboard keeps trying to revert to my previous colour profile, flashing constantly. If I switch to a colour profile with zero backlighting on my keys, the flashing stops.

3. I'll drop you a PM!

[mcirish3]

Sorry a video or pics demonstrating this would be useful.  Remember a pic is worth a 1000 words.  THis does sound cool by the way.

[revenger]

Bought a Logitech G910 first for the Logitech RGB Control mod, but that logitech gaming software had audio issues for me. So I bought a Razor BlackWidow Chroma keyboard instead for this mod.

I would suggest to make L key orange lit together with both Alt (only left one is lit). This would make it clear that L is also part of the RCS thrust control like the other keys HNIJK.

Took some time before i figured out the resources part. Is it corect that 1, 2, 3, Ins, Home, Page Up keys are not used?

Further when the resource at that stage is empty the NumLock and 7 are still lit (only out in last stage when resources are completly empty).

Really love the way the lights work with KSP, and why I got an RGB lit keyboard :-)

Edited April 24, 2016 by revenger
Figured some remarks out

[FauserneEist]

Hi guys, I'm currently in the process to finish up another release, it should be ready tomorrow during the day. After that, I'll address the issues you're facing. I'll also add a few specifics to the current readme to make the resource display easier to understand. The release will sport some nice features:

• Altimeter (displaying the height above ground on the F-Keys)
• Logo animation
• Explosion animation
• VesselNotSteerableDueToNoElectricPower animation
• Splashdown animation

Be ready for a whole new load of bugs to report :-P I will post a video with all the features, once it's finished.

[revenger]

Nice!

I found out why resources where not displayed as empty per stage...was using a aspergus design.

Would also be nice if all keys where lit in one color as soon as you need to type anything in in KSP (rename vessel, save game, etc.)

Keep up the work! Really enjoying this mod!

Remko

[FauserneEist]

39 minutes ago, revenger said:

I found out why resources where not displayed as empty per stage...was using a aspergus design.

Would also be nice if all keys where lit in one color as soon as you need to type anything in in KSP (rename vessel, save game, etc.)

That makes sense. I use the activeResources list from the game, basically it gives you the values from the "stage only" resource window. The key lighting is a brilliant idea, I'll look into that.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm currently polishing the next release, it just has one bug left (that I know of) but that one proved to be hard to eradicate. I might be able to finish it tomorrow, but at this point I don't want to make any more promises...

[Darkxanger]

may i sugest instead of showing values on the numpad to do it on the prnt screen to page down buttons. players with the Tournament eddition (me ) dont have a numpad

[revenger]

KSP 1.1.1 broke this mod. KSP Logo is shown on keyboard, but controlling a rocket still shows logo.

[FauserneEist]

8 hours ago, revenger said:

KSP 1.1.1 broke this mod. KSP Logo is shown on keyboard, but controlling a rocket still shows logo.

This seems to be a bug in 1.1.1, I hope they fix it soon. For further information, see:

 

[revenger]

On 29-4-2016 at 4:03 PM, FauserneEist said:

This seems to be a bug in 1.1.1, I hope they fix it soon. For further information, see:

 

In 1.1.2 mod is working again.

[OneEyedBob]

Blackwidow Chroma; works great, awesome mod, tyvm

[FauserneEist]

Guys, I uploaded a prerelease on github, would you please be so kind and test it for a bit, to see if anything is still broken?

Thank you guys for the constructive criticism, you make the experience all the more worth it.

[revenger]

Tested the altimeter. I personally have some doubt with using a logarithmic scale. On a faster parachute descent 8-10 m/s, 1 and 10 meter, are so close, at first it seems it is not working, and the on landing they are not lit anymore. I guess it will depend on the usage, if this is usefull. Perhaps on very low altitude flight, but then i have no time to see if i'm flying at 1 or 10 meter height ;-)

Splash animation is working correctly.

Out of control animation is only working with a probe. When using a manned pod, animation is not triggered when out of electricity.

I was not able to get an animation on a crash (pod destroyed).

[FauserneEist]

Just now, revenger said:

Tested the altimeter. I personally have some doubt with using a logarithmic scale. On a faster parachute descent 8-10 m/s, 1 and 10 meter, are so close, at first it seems it is not working, and the on landing they are not lit anymore. I guess it will depend on the usage, if this is usefull. Perhaps on very low altitude flight, but then i have no time to see if i'm flying at 1 or 10 meter height ;-)

Splash animation is working correctly.

Out of control animation is only working with a probe. When using a manned pod, animation is not triggered when out of electricity.

I was not able to get an animation on a crash (pod destroyed).

Yeah, I might change the values for each key. Displaying the height of one million meters isn't that useful after all. When landed, your altitude above ground is exactly zero so that seems to be correct. I managed to land on the Mun with it very easily but I can see how that's not helpful on higher gravity bodies. Out of control animation is only supposed to go off when you can't control the ship anymore because you have no power. A manned pod can always be controlled when the power is out (would be effin annoying otherwise, don't you think?). Crash only triggers, when the vessel's root part crashes. I don't know if the game makes the "control from here"-enabled part the root part or not. I'll investigate...

Thanks for the feedback. :-)