[Minimum KSP: 1.12.2] Heisenberg - Airships Part Pack

[DStaal]

I see this is on Spacedock.  I'm having a bit of trouble though - For some reason the Hanger deck won't load in my install.  I've found this error:

[LOG 22:07:45.352] PartLoader: Compiling Part 'WildBlueIndustries/Airships/Parts/FlightDeckSystem/hl10HangarDeck/hl10HangarDeck'
[ERR 22:07:45.355] PartLoader: Encountered exception during compilation. System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at PartLoader.ReplaceTextures (UnityEngine.GameObject model, System.Collections.Generic.List`1 textureNames, System.Collections.Generic.List`1 newTextures) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 
  at PartLoader.CompileModel (.UrlConfig cfg, .ConfigNode partCfg, Single scaleFactor, .AvailablePart partInfo) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 
  at PartLoader.ParsePart (.UrlConfig urlConfig, .ConfigNode node) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 
  at PartLoader+<CompileParts>c__Iterator62.MoveNext () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

[ERR 22:07:45.355] PartCompiler: Cannot compile part

If you need something else to help debug, just ask.  I'm still just testing 1.2.2, so this is a fairly clean save.  (More than a few mods - but no launches yet.)

[Angelo Kerman]

@DStaal That was a test release... I don't have the mod uploaded to GitHub just yet, or the latest promo done, but....

Heisenberg 2.0 is now available! Get it on Spacedock

2.0 Kerbin Exploration Initiative
At last, the dream is alive! Named in honor of and inspired by @EJ_SA's K.E.I. mission, this release pretty much completes the parts pack for the Heisenberg airship. Now you can build airships, flying aircraft carriers, and even large rovers! Special thank you to @Shnyrik for allowing me to use his flying aircraft carrier screen shots.

New Parts: Flight Deck System
- HL-10 Hangar Deck: The Hangar Deck has space for 4 kerbals and it has doors that can be retracted. Its cavernous bay can easily hold a stock FL-14400 fuel tank with room to spare. Flip the part upside down and you have a drop bay. The Hangar Deck forms the cornerstone of the Heisenberg Flight Deck System. When building an airship, simply open the doors and attach the flight deck components on top of the part. Finally, it has a name tag that you can change.
TIP: Docking ports work great for attaching aircraft and rovers to the hangar deck.
- Hangar Bay Hard Top: When attached to the Hangar Deck, the Hard Top provides a seamless look for your airships.
- HL-10 Flight Deck: When attached to the Hangar Deck, it provides a place for your aircraft to land. It has a large name tag on the top that you can change. Finally, it holds a variety of different resources.
- HL-10 Elevator Deck: Also attached to the Hangar Deck, it has a large elevator to lower your aircraft to the hangar deck or raise them up to the flight deck. You cannot attach parts to the elevator itself, but you can attach parts to the sides and edges of the part.
NOTE: The Hangar Deck crew hatches WILL BE OBSTRUCTED when the elevator is lowered.
- Flight Deck Extensions: The extensions let you build the flight deck over other parts of the hull. The Type 1 and Type 2 Extensions have a large name tag on the top that you can change, and the Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 extensions let you switch between deck markings and no deck markings.
NOTE: The attachment nodes on the extensions are oriented vertically BY DESIGN to ensure that the flight decks properly attach to the hangar deck.
- Flight Deck Fairing: This part helps close the gaps between your flight decks and airship hulls.
TIP: You can attach an extension onto the deck fairing. The attachment node is at the back.
- Cargo Lift: You can use this part to lower cargo and small vehicles from the hangar deck to the ground. Like the aircraft elevator, the Cargo Lift cannot have parts attached to it. The Cargo Lift's speed can be varied (25% is good for lowering kerbals to the ground), and its maximum cable length is 200 meters.
NOTE: The cargo lift isn't perfect and might not align with the hangar deck perfectly. Use the fine controls to tweak the height after it raises back up to the ship.
NOTE: Be sure to place your cargo within the red box outline on the lift. Bad things will happen if you don't.
NOTE: BY DESIGN, the cargo lift doesn't remember if it was up or down when you leave the scene. I don't trust KSP to set things up properly upon your return...

New Parts: Bison Gondola System
- HL-10 Command Gondola*: It holds a crew of 4 and has excellent visibility. It can be upgraded to not require crew to operate.
- Passenger Gondola*: It holds 16 crew.
- GondoHab*: It holds 4 crew, but it ties into life support Mods (Snacks, TAC-LS, USI-LS). And yes, that is an aluminium piano on the lower deck. GondoHab can use Pathfinder's Habitation templates.
- GondoLab*: It too holds 4 crew, and it has many configurations including a Mobile Processing Lab. It can also use Pathfinder's Science templates.
- GondoGarden*: It holds 4 crew and functions as a greenhouse when a life support mod is installed.
- Storage Gondola*: It can hold a variety of different resources.
- Cargo Gondola*: It has doors that slide open and a ramp that extends to the ground.
- GondoDrill: This early model drill is expensive but it lets you extract resources.
- Bison Command Cab*: Use it to turn your gondola parts into a rover system, or use it as a cupola to watch the world go by.
- Bison Jump Jet Module: It has reaction wheels, a vertically oriented probe core for VTOL operations, RCS, and a pair of jump jets.
- Bison Airlock Module* (BAM): Designed to fit on the back of your rover, it provides you with a way to exit the vehicle without depressurizing one of your cabins. If you have Extraplanetary Launchpads installed, then the BAM doubles as a survey station. It can even serve as a command pod if needed.
- Bison Stabilizer Legs: These legs help stabilize gondolas while on the ground.
NOTE: Stabilizer might slip on slopes. I'm still working on this...
- Bison Docking Port: This port is specially designed to dock gondola parts together.
NOTE: If you want to create long trains, try using the stock asteroid grabber unit in free pivot mode. A custom part is in the works.
- Bison Fairings: There are several types to choose from.
* Can be surface-attached.

New Parts: Accessories
- HL-10 RCS Module: It runs on CompressedAir, which you can create by running the Cyclone engine or by using a Gyro Ring.
- Mk1 ISRU Module: It takes up 2/3 of the Storage Gondola, and its resource production is limited at first, but it gets better as you unlock more tech nodes.
- Search Radar: It is functionally equivalent to the stock M4435 Narrow-Band Scanner. It's avaiable earlier, but it is larger, heavier, and more expensive.
- Buckboard 6000: It's twice the size and twice the capacity of the Buckboard 3000.
- TR-2S: It's a customized stock TR-2L that's more expensive but available earlier. This is an interim solution, a custom wheel is in the works.

Bug Fixes & Enhancements
- Increased torque values on the Gyro Ring. The airship should be better able to stay upright and maneuver now.
- The Gyro Ring can now create ElectricCharge by burning IntakeAir and LiquidFuel, and it can create CompressedAir via Atmosphere and ElectricCharge.
- Added CompressedAir storage to the Gyro Ring and the Cyclone engine.
- For new airships, the name tags are turned off by default.
- Added flags to the HL-10L and HL-10M hulls. By default they're hidden.
- Added Module Manager & Wild Blue Tools.
- Added a custom category icon for the Heisenberg.
- Removed the WBIGasStation part module; the ISRU parts now fill its role.
- Airship hulls are better able to withstand the heat of the rocket fuel that they're painted with.

[Angelo Kerman]

In honor of finishing up the parts pack, I built a rocket-powered airship to see what happens when the craft goes sub orbital:

Liftoff!

Coasting upward. As expected, static lift isn't being generated.

In the 2.0 release I upped the airship's heat tolerance (but kept the crash tolerance low) so that it could survive atmospheric entry. You never know when you want to take one of these things to Duna or Eve or Laythe...

Hooligan Labs comes through, and generates static lift once again. The airship is safely floating above Kerbin after her trip into space.

[Shnyrik]

3 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Heisenberg 2.0 is now available!

Hurray!

[Shnyrik]

I'm sorry to ask, but were there any changes in the buoyancy balance of the HL parts? With 2.0 version my previously balanced airships suddenly began turning upside down. And they turn even when I attach something really heavy to the bottom to move center of mass down.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Shnyrik

[Angelo Kerman]

35 minutes ago, Shnyrik said:

I'm sorry to ask, but were there any changes in the buoyancy balance of the HL parts? With 2.0 version my previously balanced airships suddenly began turning upside down. And they turn even when I attach something really heavy to the bottom to move center of mass down.

I slightly adjusted the lift multiplier from 40 to 42. Try lowering it again. I also increased the torque on the gyro ring.

[Shnyrik]

43 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

I slightly adjusted the lift multiplier from 40 to 42. Try lowering it again

Hm. That is really odd, but it helped

[Angelo Kerman]

1 hour ago, Shnyrik said:

Hm. That is really odd, but it helped

Ok, sounds like I need to re-adjust the lift multipliers back down. I'll get to that next week. Meanwhile, my latest promo:

Edited December 23, 2016 by Angel-125

[DeepSlayLP]

Are the Heisenberg writings supposed to stay there ad not be able to be turned off?

 

If no, then I have to recheck my texture switcher

[Shnyrik]

2 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Ok, sounds like I need to re-adjust the lift multipliers back down

I'm sorry, but it was a mistake. I used configs from previous version, so that mislead me.

The problem was not in lift multiplayers. It was in this line, that caused overturns:

Quote

CoMOffset = 0,0,4.5

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by Shnyrik

[Denko666]

OH..... MY..... GOD....... 

Angel you sure have outdone yourself. I'm going to try this out as soon as i get back home.

[Angelo Kerman]

1 hour ago, Shnyrik said:

I'm sorry, but it was a mistake. I used configs from previous version, so that mislead me.

The problem was not in lift multiplayers. It was in this line, that caused overturns:

 

Hm ok, I was trying to lower the center of mass towards where the crew port is. Maybe you could help fine tune that? It would help.

So some parts for a follow-on release should include:

- Gondola Adapters for 2.5m and 3.75m

- M1A3 Kodiak wheel to replace the interim TR-2S. It will fold so that you can stow your rovers in a Mk3 cargo bay.

- Ski jump flight deck extension

- Alternate meshes/textures to fit the flight deck system onto @Fengist's submarine. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the sub to sink without tons and tons of CompressedWater, and I'm kinda itching to redesign the sub to combine functionality, but yeah, better integration with the 10m sub.

- If it's possible in KSP, modify the docking port so that it can freely pivot like the stock asteroid grabber does.

[Space Scumbag]

Ooh wee! Finally there. Have to make some videos with this mod. Thank you.

[Angelo Kerman]

I found an error that I'm trying to fix ASAP: Both Hooligan Labs and Heisenberg use the "Airships" folder, meaning that my parts install into Hooligan Labs' folder. I'm fixing that ASAP, but you might need to reinstall HL. Sorry about that..

[stevebrew]

I have no idea if I messed up or my installation is wrecked but no matter what I try the HL-10 Hangar Deck part does not show up whatsoever. the model and textures are there, as well as the config file but the part dosent show up in the menu. if anyone can help me I would be deeply appreciative.

Thanks

[Angelo Kerman]

OK, here is the emergency patch:

2.0.3

- Renamed the Airships folder to the Heisenberg folder to avoid installation conflicts with Hooligan Labs
IMPORTANT NOTE: You'll need to re-install Hooligan Labs and Heisenberg, sorry about that..
- Fixed converter names so that the monopropellant converter says that it converts Ore into MonoPropellant, and so on..

[Angelo Kerman]

ok, this is frustrating, here's 2.0.4

- Annnd fixed the issue with the cyclone engines...

This release spam is the result of the Heisenberg and Hooligan Labs both using a folder called Airships...

[Fengist]

6 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

- Alternate meshes/textures to fit the flight deck system onto @Fengist's submarine. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the sub to sink without tons and tons of CompressedWater, and I'm kinda itching to redesign the sub to combine functionality, but yeah, better integration with the 10m sub.

 

I toyed around with various methods and even with that tons of ballast I'm still killing the stock buoyancy.  One idea that i haven't really explored, and I know this has a LOT to do with buoyancy, is manually changing the drag cubes. I created a 'calculator' for drag cubes that you can find here:

Not sure how familiar you are with them but the link is to a .php file where you can change the drag cubes by x percentage. You'll have to manually add the drag cube to the .cfg.  Once a drag cube gets added to PartDatabase.cfg, it won't change the drag cube if you change the part (I learned this the hard way.

You may want to manually play with the drag cubes on my sub parts.  That should reduce their tendency to float.

BTW, thanks for the nice airship mod. Was about to work on one myself.  I'll let you know how they fly steam powered.

[Fengist]

6 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

- Alternate meshes/textures to fit the flight deck system onto @Fengist's submarine. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the sub to sink without tons and tons of CompressedWater, and I'm kinda itching to redesign the sub to combine functionality, but yeah, better integration with the 10m sub.

 

I toyed around with various methods and even with that tons of ballast I'm still killing the stock buoyancy.  One idea that i haven't really explored, and I know this has a LOT to do with buoyancy, is manually changing the drag cubes. I created a 'calculator' for drag cubes that you can find here:

Not sure how familiar you are with them but the link is to a .php file where you can change the drag cubes by x percentage. You'll have to manually add the drag cube to the .cfg.  Once a drag cube gets added to PartDatabase.cfg, it won't change the drag cube if you change the part (I learned this the hard way.

You may want to manually play with the drag cubes on my sub parts.  That should reduce their tendency to float.

BTW, thanks for the nice airship mod. Was about to work on one myself.  I'll let you know how they fly steam powered.

 

Oh, and I use firespitter to kill the buoyancy on the sub parts.  Try adding that to your parts.  If you haven't, they'll float like Styrofoam.

                MODULE
                {
                               name = FSbuoyancy
                               dragInWater = .1
                               maxVerticalSpeed = 100
                               buoyancyForce = 50
                               debugMode = False
                }

[Angelo Kerman]

31 minutes ago, Fengist said:

I toyed around with various methods and even with that tons of ballast I'm still killing the stock buoyancy.  One idea that i haven't really explored, and I know this has a LOT to do with buoyancy, is manually changing the drag cubes. I created a 'calculator' for drag cubes that you can find here:

Not sure how familiar you are with them but the link is to a .php file where you can change the drag cubes by x percentage. You'll have to manually add the drag cube to the .cfg.  Once a drag cube gets added to PartDatabase.cfg, it won't change the drag cube if you change the part (I learned this the hard way.

You may want to manually play with the drag cubes on my sub parts.  That should reduce their tendency to float.

BTW, thanks for the nice airship mod. Was about to work on one myself.  I'll let you know how they fly steam powered.

 

Oh, and I use firespitter to kill the buoyancy on the sub parts.  Try adding that to your parts.  If you haven't, they'll float like Styrofoam.

                MODULE
                {
                               name = FSbuoyancy
                               dragInWater = .1
                               maxVerticalSpeed = 100
                               buoyancyForce = 50
                               debugMode = False
                }

Thank you much, I'll check these out Before anybody asks, yes, I know about the lack of IVAs in the gondola parts. Will fix tomorrow after traveling.

[Blue5]

Angel and team!

I've been lurking here for a long time (smile) - Great stuff here and amazing work!! I hope to use this soon!

I used to work CargoLifter (CL) and was on the team developing the CL160.

1. At CL we were working on ways to transport and deliver large structures point-to-point. For example mobile hospitals. Do you think using this amazing mod/addon do you think I could do this in KSP? I'm assuming using this with Pathfinder, MOLE, and BUFFALO would get me to my dream.

2. How could I deliver an airship to Duna, Eve, Laythe that would be used for exploration and base/colony support?

Thanks - good luck and good hunting!

Blue5

 

[Denko666]

1 hour ago, Blue5 said:

 

2. How could I deliver an airship to Duna, Eve, Laythe that would be used for exploration and base/colony support?

Thanks - good luck and good hunting!

Blue5

 

Build it on site using Extraplanetary Launchpads? 

[Shnyrik]

Well, I've finished tests. I can say, that CoM offset seems to work fine on stock game with just HL Airships and Heisenberg installed. So, I thought,  the problem must be in mod conflict. So I've been adding them one by one, trying to reproduce the CoM issue. And I've failed.

So in the end the problem seems to be in my main KSP install, which is probably broken somehow.

Edited December 24, 2016 by Shnyrik

[Angelo Kerman]

5 hours ago, Blue5 said:

Angel and team!

I've been lurking here for a long time (smile) - Great stuff here and amazing work!! I hope to use this soon!

I used to work CargoLifter (CL) and was on the team developing the CL160.

1. At CL we were working on ways to transport and deliver large structures point-to-point. For example mobile hospitals. Do you think using this amazing mod/addon do you think I could do this in KSP? I'm assuming using this with Pathfinder, MOLE, and BUFFALO would get me to my dream.

2. How could I deliver an airship to Duna, Eve, Laythe that would be used for exploration and base/colony support?

Thanks - good luck and good hunting!

Blue5

 

Hi Blue5, Glad you like the mod. It's been fun and an interesting challenge to make something that met my design goals: an airship, flying aircraft carrier, and rover/mobile base that's compatible with and belongs in the same family as the Buffalo. I'm happy to say that I accomplished that goal. You can definitely build and fly an airship to Duna, Eve, and Laythe, though thus far I've only done a sub-orbital flight to see what happens when the Hooligan Labs Airships plugin (downloaded separately) encounters a vacuum.

My testing shows that the airship will handle atmospheric entry without issus, and the Hooligan Labs plugin will level out your airship as long as you design it to work in the target planet's atmosphere. Once I get Buffalo's prop-rotor engine and nuclear reactor built, you'll even have an electric motor to use on other worlds. The latest release increased the heat tolerance on the airship while keeping crash tolerance low (airships are fragile things), deliberately so that you could fly the airship to other worlds.

By the way, I'm not familiar with the CL160, can you talk about that more?

4 hours ago, Denko666 said:

Build it on site using Extraplanetary Launchpads? 

You could definitely do that too..

3 hours ago, Shnyrik said:

Well, I've finished tests. I can say, that CoM offset seems to work fine on stock game with just HL Airships and Heisenberg installed. So, I thought,  the problem must be in mod conflict. So I've been adding them one by one, trying to reproduce the CoM issue. And I've failed.

So in the end the problem seems to be in my main KSP install, which is probably broken somehow.

I appreciate you taking the time to look into this, thanks. I consider you to be the expert on flying aircraft carriers (your pictures are up on the wall in the hangar deck's ready room)

Today I'll be fixing the IVA issues that resulted from renaming the Airships folder to the Heisenberg folder- again, I apologize for the installation conflicts, the Heisenberg shouldn't be installed into HL's Airships folder, so be sure to reinstall both mods. I also have some new parts: a Bison to 2.5m adapter, a Bison to 3.75m adapter, and a couple of shorter length storage gondolas. I can do these fairly quickly. Things like the wheel, submarine compatible meshes and the like will take longer. I also want to remove the Firespitter dependency (it's used for the Cyclone engine), but that probably won't be done today.

Again, sorry for the release spam, I ran into some issues while getting the initial release out, and @TheReadPanda had some great feedback on his stream yesterday that will help enhance the gondola/rover components that I want to put in place today.

Edited December 24, 2016 by Angel-125

[Angelo Kerman]

And here is 2.1.0:

New Parts
- Bison Adapter: This comes in two sizes: a 2.5m and 3.75m.
- Storage Gondola: You now have a 2u and a 1u storage gondola.

Bug Fixes & Enhancements
- All configs in the Spaces folder have been moved to their appropriate folder under Parts. Now it's even easier to remove what you don't use.
- IVAs are showing properly again.

I'm out of time, but I think the update spam is done for now, and I was even able to add some extra parts.