[1.2, 1.3] KW Rocketry Redux 3.1.1.1 released

[linuxgurugamer]

This is the thread to discuss the new release of KW Rocketry Redux.  This is a continuation of the original KW Rocketry with the inclusion of the Community Fixes, as such there are a number of contributors.

You need to install ModuleManager for this to work.  This version includes the full KWRocketry, so you won't need to install that anymore.

If installing by hand, you MUST read the instructions, otherwise the engines will not work

 

Depending on which file you download, there will be an "Installation for Dummies" file available, please read it for a simple guide to install KWRedux

 

If installing by hand, it would be best to use the following download, which is set up to avoid install errors

It is available on SpaceDock, as well as on Github

Github:  https://github.com/linuxgurugamer/KWRocketryRedux/releases/latest

 

Please note that there is only one file on Github, which is intended for a regular install.

 

This includes the original GraduatedPowerResponse configs already installed, so should avoid install issues in the future

  

As time permits I'll try to list all the contributors below.

KW Rocketry Redux is available from the following locations:

http://spacedock.info/mod/531/KW%20Rocketry%20Redux

https://github.com/linuxgurugamer/KWRocketryRedux/releases

This pack is compatible with KSP 1.1, and will also work on 1.0.5

 

KW Rocketry is the premiere modpack produced by Kickasskyle and Winston. Built originally for KSP version .15, KW Rocketry has seen many iterations, and has been reworked for KSP version .22 up to what we see now. KW Rocketry was originally produced as a pack meant to add more parts with realistic balance to KSP, with a focus on VAB built vehicles. KSP has been widely used, however, for everything from fuel stations to shuttles and has seen many fan built craft posted on the KSP official forums.

KW Rocketry now features emissives on every engine, normals for every part, and a number of brand new parts, including side-mounted tanks styled after those on the Vostok and Soyuz rockets. KW Rocketry also includes two different versions of the vanilla strut part, a choice of automatic or manual engine fairings and a number of 1-5m converter fuel tank parts.

When installing, you need to select one of the power response configs.  If using CKAN, you will be prompted, otherwise you will have to do it manually

----POWER RESPONSE ----
There are two different power response configs.  One is an instant response, similar to stock, and the second is a graduated power response, where it takes the engines a few seconds spool up to full thrust

----GRADUATED POWER RESPONSE ----
For the graduated power response on engines  you have to extract the GameData folder contained within the Extras/GraduatedPowerResponseConfigs folder after having previously installed KW Rocketry as above.  You need to merge the GameData directories, which will provide your engines with graduated power response. 

----INSTANT POWER RESPONSE ----
For alternatively instant power response on engines you have to extract the GameData folder contained within the Extras/InstantPowerResponseConfigs folder after having previously installed KW Rocketry as above.  You need to merge the GameData directories, which will provide your engines with instant power response. 

This mod includes version checking using MiniAVC. If you opt-in, it will use the internet to check whether there is a new version available. Data is only read from the internet and no personal information is sent. For a more comprehensive version checking experience, please download the KSP-AVC Plugin.

A Teaser trailer for v2.6, by Winston.

 

 

Donations gratefully accepted

https://www.patreon.com/linuxgurugamer

KSP-AVC Notice

This mod includes version checking using MiniAVC. If you opt-in, it will use the internet to check whether there is a new version available.

Data is only read from the internet and no personal information is sent. For a more comprehensive version checking experience, please download the KSP-AVC Plugin.

License:

Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

CC BY-NC-SA

 

Edited May 27, 2017 by linuxgurugamer

[Torih]

Much better  Don't forget to mention the cfg files that need to be selected.

[Bleddyn]

Is this still the same version (3.0.1) that I grabbed from CKAN last night? If so it is looking at working great from my testing so far.

Thank you for your time working on the mod. 

[Torih]

Yeah its the same one, just a new home for it.

[tenvelden]

Best mod 10/10 I'm running a career with just KW parts. Is this redux different than the old KW + community fixes mods?

[linuxgurugamer]

2 hours ago, tenvelden said:

Best mod 10/10 I'm running a career with just KW parts. Is this redux different than the old KW + community fixes mods?

Nope, it's mostly a repackaging of it for now

There is a discussion going on in the old thread about doing some rebalancing of the values.  I'm bringing it over here, and have copied the most significant post below:

 

 

Posted yesterday at 6:45 AM · Report post

On 4/21/2016 at 4:38 AM, Honeybadga said:

So, I went ahead and brought the pricing of most of the fuel tanks more in line with stock parts. Prepare for higher unlocking costs across the board. I also tweaked some part costs here and there and made them more consistent overall. These numbers are based only on my own rough guesstimations mind you.

  Reveal hidden contents

Furthermore, I moved the 1.25m and 2.5m RCS tanks into the Adv. Fuel Systems tech node where the other RCS tanks are and adjusted their pricing accordingly.

Seems to work for me so far with the latest KWRocketryRedux pack on 1.1. I just dumped the .cfg into

...GameData\KWRocketry\KWCommunityFixes

Do with it as you please.

Thank you.

This is a bit more of a drastic change than the usual submission, since it's changing values and not just to make it work :-)

I'm going to spend some time going over this, and I'd like some feedback from the other contributors as well.  I'm not sure yet whether to simply integrate this, or to keep it as a separate patch.

------

I've been working on a massive spreadsheet to evaluate the costs, and I must say, you've done a very good job.

FYI, You missed one tank:  KW2mtankL1B, set the etnry cost to 7000 to keep in line with the rest of your changes

I also think that most of the costs will need to be adjusted, based on the calculation Volume/cost, and comparing to Squad's numbers

Thanks.  I'll probably have something to test next week.

 

Anybody else want to comment on the costs of KW parts?

[Honeybadga]

Yay! Thanks for providing a new home for the best rocket parts pack ever.

That KW2mtankL1B that I missed out apparently inherited my cost changes from the KW2mtankL1 since both have the same model. Not sure if it's legit that Tac LS users can even cram an additional 555 units of oxygen into the KW2mtankL1B

Unfortunately, Squad's pricing is everything but consistent. The worst offenders are the FL-T400 Fuel tank from the Advanced Rocketry node with an entry cost of merely 1600 bucks and the tiny little FL-R10 RCS Tank that costs a whopping 5400 bucks to unlock.

[linuxgurugamer]

You have to think about the fact that the first time a tank is researched, it costs more, but the next larger size simply builds on the earlier research.

At least, that is how I'm looking at it, although I don't play at that level.  I'm more concerned about the purchase price rather than entry price

[Honeybadga]

Ow, I was more under the impression that both entry prices and purchase prices scale with the volume. But purchase prices will probably also have to be revised.

[smjjames]

Cool that this is a continuation of KWrocketry. May want to update the version number on spacedock because the one I downloaded yesterday was 3.0.0.

Also, did you check whether the textures and models are optimized? Because there is an unity bug that causes lag when you scroll a list that has lots of parts (150+), so, unoptimized models and textures would make it worse. The devs know about the issue though and are working on it.

[blowfish]

7 minutes ago, smjjames said:

Cool that this is a continuation of KWrocketry. May want to update the version number on spacedock because the one I downloaded yesterday was 3.0.0.

Also, did you check whether the textures and models are optimized? Because there is an unity bug that causes lag when you scroll a list that has lots of parts (150+), so, unoptimized models and textures would make it worse. The devs know about the issue though and are working on it.

Define "optimized" - to my knowledge, all the textures have been DDS for a few versions of KW.  Not completely sure, but I doubt linuxgurugamer modified the assets at all, since that's pretty time consuming and isn't really necessary for repackaging.

[smjjames]

Just now, blowfish said:

Define "optimized" - to my knowledge, all the textures have been DDS for a few versions of KW.  Not completely sure, but I doubt linuxgurugamer modified the assets at all, since that's pretty time consuming and isn't really necessary for repackaging.

Well, textures being a reasonable size and optimized models (not exactly sure what 'optimized models' entails specifically either) mainly.....

[pargentum]

On missing SRB exhaust plumes (continuation from locked thread)

I did the investigation.  The root of the issue is not an interaction with my other mods (I did a clean install and added mods one by one).  It is just throttle setting (thrust limit setting in VAB).  On full and 50% throttle Globe V has plumes, both on clean install and with all mod combinations I tested.

But my ship has 2% thrust limit.  It still has enough power to haul 5-seat winged vehicle to suborbital trajectory, but it turns the exhaust plume off.

Stock SRB (I tested Flea) have plumes on 2% thrust limit.

[pargentum]

13 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Anybody else want to comment on the costs of KW parts?

Yes, I want to comment.

With current stats and cost, KW tanks have distinct position. They are high-performance light-weight expensive tanks intended for upper stages and unique high-performance missions.  If you bring them in line with stock, they will become another collection of stockalike tanks.  Who would want that when you have Fuel Tanks Plus and many other tank collection mods?

Keeping current stats but increasing the cost would make sense.

I also would like to see engines brought out of line with stock, may be in different directions (cheap low performance and expensive high performance)

 

[linuxgurugamer]

2 hours ago, pargentum said:

Yes, I want to comment.

With current stats and cost, KW tanks have distinct position. They are high-performance light-weight expensive tanks intended for upper stages and unique high-performance missions.  If you bring them in line with stock, they will become another collection of stockalike tanks.  Who would want that when you have Fuel Tanks Plus and many other tank collection mods?

Keeping current stats but increasing the cost would make sense.

I also would like to see engines brought out of line with stock, may be in different directions (cheap low performance and expensive high performance)

 

What I was thinking of would be to keep the current settings, but to have alternative settings available.  So there would be one which makes it more in line with stock, and another which would be more I in line with what you suggest

[Temeter]

Hm, i'd certainly like keeping KWO tanks balanced different. It's not like you could still build full KW rockets without problems, but it's a nice dynamic, even moreso when you add mods like cryo engines, which create further tradeoffs between efficiency, weight and cost.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Temeter

[Honeybadga]

2 hours ago, pargentum said:

Yes, I want to comment.

With current stats and cost, KW tanks have distinct position. They are high-performance light-weight expensive tanks intended for upper stages and unique high-performance missions.  If you bring them in line with stock, they will become another collection of stockalike tanks.  Who would want that when you have Fuel Tanks Plus and many other tank collection mods?

Keeping current stats but increasing the cost would make sense.

I also would like to see engines brought out of line with stock, may be in different directions (cheap low performance and expensive high performance)

 

One might also argue that Fuel Tanks Plus and many other tank part mods have become another collection of stockalike tanks given how long KW Rocketry has been around. I've started playing at KSP v0.18 or 0.19 and it was probably THE go-to mod for rocket parts back then already.

Also, could you clarify what you mean by high-performance tanks? Is it tanks with a low empty mass?

 

[pargentum]

1 hour ago, Honeybadga said:

Also, could you clarify what you mean by high-performance tanks? Is it tanks with a low empty mass?

 

Yes.  Fuel Tanks Plus have wet/dry ratio very close to equivalent stock configuration (FTP FL-T1200 is equal in capacity and dry mass to stock FL-T800+FL-T400). 

KWR ratio is much higher, especially for unpainted 2.5 and 3.75m tanks.

[bradwiggo]

is this the same download as the other thread?

[nobodyhasthis2]

@linuxgurugamer

Can you put in the explanation behind two config files. The OP does not explain there are two different power response configs. 

One is an instant response, similar to stock, and the second is a graduated power response, where it takes the engines a few seconds spool up to full thrust. This is only known by searching through the instructions and further details are a complete mystery.. 

Edited April 23, 2016 by nobodyhasthis2

[Prismatech]

thanks for this 

[linuxgurugamer]

2 hours ago, bradwiggo said:

is this the same download as the other thread?

yes

1 hour ago, nobodyhasthis2 said:

@linuxgurugamer

Can you put in the explanation behind two config files. The OP does not explain there are two different power response configs. 

One is an instant response, similar to stock, and the second is a graduated power response, where it takes the engines a few seconds spool up to full thrust. This is only known by searching through the instructions and further details are a complete mystery.. 

done, thanks for the suggestion

10 hours ago, pargentum said:

On missing SRB exhaust plumes (continuation from locked thread)

I did the investigation.  The root of the issue is not an interaction with my other mods (I did a clean install and added mods one by one).  It is just throttle setting (thrust limit setting in VAB).  On full and 50% throttle Globe V has plumes, both on clean install and with all mod combinations I tested.

But my ship has 2% thrust limit.  It still has enough power to haul 5-seat winged vehicle to suborbital trajectory, but it turns the exhaust plume off.

Stock SRB (I tested Flea) have plumes on 2% thrust limit.

Wow, 2% is awfully low.  I'll look into it, but can you upload your craft file somewhere, I'd like to use it as a test bed.  I have a vague recollection that the minimum should be 50%, I'll have to do some research.

I just looked at the config, and I'm pretty sure that the minimum thrust is 50%, even though you might set it lower.  So I would suspect that when you are launching your ship with 2% setting, it is really using 50%.  Please test this by launching it 2x, once with 2% and once with 50% and compare the differences, also compare the amount of time it is providing thrust.

Thanks

Edited April 23, 2016 by linuxgurugamer

[pargentum]

On SRB missing plumes on 2% thrust limit.

11 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Wow, 2% is awfully low.  I'll look into it, but can you upload your craft file somewhere, I'd like to use it as a test bed.  I have a vague recollection that the minimum should be 50%, I'll have to do some research.

I uploaded craft files in the same dropbox folder: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l9ck8h5e0eoxgcv/AABCnVSG_G18BKkDipzrpKRba?dl=0

Raketoplane.craft is the original vehicle where I found the issue.  It uses MechJeb, CryoEngines, B9PartsSwitch and InterstellarFuelSwitch (last two are required by CryoEngines). 

Untitled Space Craft.craft is a pure testbed, it is designed to burn SRBs staying on launch clamps (it has no controls so probably not flyable).

You definitely can set 2% thrust limit on any SRB in the VAB editor in 1.1.  Though I noticed some nonlinear response with settings below 50% (both by MechJeb stat calculation and by craft handling).  I estimate that 2% setting is much bigger thrust than 2% from nominal.

Actually, if you build a rocket that takes most or all of its dV from solid fuel, you need to seriously throttle down your boosters.   Rockets with too high TWR are difficult to handle in low atmosphere. This is true for stock boosters and for all mod boosters I used (KWR, RLA and USI Sounding Rockets).

[bradwiggo]

which folder do you drag into the gamedata folders, the gamedata folder, or the one inside the game data folder (e.g. kw rocketry)

[Torih]

2 minutes ago, bradwiggo said:

which folder do you drag into the gamedata folders, the gamedata folder, or the one inside the game data folder (e.g. kw rocketry)

Drag the KW Rocketry folder into Gamedata. So it will look like GameData/KW Rocketry. Also don't forget the cfg files after that.

You could always use Ckan if you are struggling, it will make it easier (most of the time).