totm may 2024 [1.12.x] - Modular Kolonization System (MKS)

[alphaprior]

44 minutes ago, Kielm said:

@alphaprior

This is not a small mod, it's a beast - life support, colonisation, resource gathering, refining, processing and uses. You can find a wiki here - you may want to bookmark it to refer to it later. 

You don't need this mod if all you want to do is refuel - you can accomplish that with the stock ISRU parts & drills - try googling "KSP Ore Mining" or searching for similar videos on YouTube. 

This guide by bigcalm on MKS is quite recent, it's pretty comprehensive for an overview and look at how stuff works. 

Hope that helps!

 

It's more like an expansion of KSP a big one... and yes I know both wiki and the recent guide. Both useful and extensive but I want simple examples.

I will check the stock ISRU parts although I want to try with MKS.

[Kielm]

22 minutes ago, alphaprior said:

It's more like an expansion of KSP a big one... and yes I know both wiki and the recent guide. Both useful and extensive but I want simple examples.

I will check the stock ISRU parts although I want to try with MKS.

Sure. The issue is that it's difficult to come up with simple examples for a complex mod. 

In a nutshell, to get some basic refuelling in place (assuming it's all automated with no Kerbals involved):

• You'll need a craft that can drill for Ore. 
  • Ensure the drill you choose can mine Ore - the stock drills are a pretty safe bet. 
  • If using an MKS drill, ensure you switch it to "Ore" before you launch it - it will mine whatever it's set to mine, so if you leave it as the default it will likely try to mine Dirt. 
• You'll need storage for Ore and your refined product
  • e.g. small or large ore containers, or MKS Kontainers (set to "Ore"!), whatever you want
  • If you're refining to LiquidFuel & Oxidizer then any stock fuel tank will probably do to store the output
• You'll need something to convert between the two
  • an MPU from MKS should be able to do it, or the stock ISRU convertor. Again, if using the MKS part ensure you set the switchable part to refine the thing you want to refine, before you launch it. 
• You'll need power
  • Add up the requirements from the ISRU, drills, etc. Add some battery storage for the night time.
• You'll need to dissipate the heat generated from drills & ISRU
  • Test it on the pad, or add up the heat from each part and include enough radiators to get rid of the heat, or the drills & converters will shut down

That should do the trick. You'll need everything else you would normally need for a spacecraft too, and if you're planning to dock it then a docking port and RCS etc. This is all assuming that you've already done the resource scanning in advance and know where to find Ore.

Your best bet is probably to try it out in sandbox first - use cheats to simplify moving things around to save time. 

But there's more...

Spoiler

If you have Karbonite (another USI mod) then you can refine fuel from Karbonite too if that's available on your chosen celestial body. Some places even have trace Karbonite in their atmospheres and exospheres that you can harvest and refine. 

MKS also provides patches to allow some ISRU parts to split Water into Liquid Hydrogen and Oxidizer, or Liquid Fuel and Oxidizer. 

There are multiple ways, depending on what mods you're using and how you want to do it. 

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by Kielm

[RoverDude]

Who likes orbital shipyards?  (2.5m and 5m flavors)

[Spaceman.Spiff]

16 minutes ago, RoverDude said:

Who likes orbital shipyards?  (2.5m and 5m flavors)

I do!

These look amazing!

[RoverDude]

3 minutes ago, Spaceman.Spiff said:

I do!

These look amazing!

Trying to get a pre-release ready so people can play with the mechanics even if the models are still white stand ins

[Tabris]

3 hours ago, RoverDude said:

Who likes orbital shipyards?  (2.5m and 5m flavors)

are they going to be modular or monolithic

[Tacombel]

8 hours ago, alphaprior said:

I dont' mind which module I need to use I just want to produce fuel. I have to mine ore then process it somewhere. How? 

If you just want to make fuel you can go the Wolf way. The last two pages of the wiki are tutorials about how to set it up. 

Edited January 18, 2021 by Tacombel

[alphaprior]

7 hours ago, Kielm said:

Sure. The issue is that it's difficult to come up with simple examples for a complex mod. 

In a nutshell, to get some basic refuelling in place (assuming it's all automated with no Kerbals involved):

• You'll need a craft that can drill for Ore. 
  • Ensure the drill you choose can mine Ore - the stock drills are a pretty safe bet. 
  • If using an MKS drill, ensure you switch it to "Ore" before you launch it - it will mine whatever it's set to mine, so if you leave it as the default it will likely try to mine Dirt. 
• You'll need storage for Ore and your refined product
  • e.g. small or large ore containers, or MKS Kontainers (set to "Ore"!), whatever you want
  • If you're refining to LiquidFuel & Oxidizer then any stock fuel tank will probably do to store the output
• You'll need something to convert between the two
  • an MPU from MKS should be able to do it, or the stock ISRU convertor. Again, if using the MKS part ensure you set the switchable part to refine the thing you want to refine, before you launch it. 
• You'll need power
  • Add up the requirements from the ISRU, drills, etc. Add some battery storage for the night time.
• You'll need to dissipate the heat generated from drills & ISRU
  • Test it on the pad, or add up the heat from each part and include enough radiators to get rid of the heat, or the drills & converters will shut down

That should do the trick. You'll need everything else you would normally need for a spacecraft too, and if you're planning to dock it then a docking port and RCS etc. This is all assuming that you've already done the resource scanning in advance and know where to find Ore.

Your best bet is probably to try it out in sandbox first - use cheats to simplify moving things around to save time. 

But there's more...

  Reveal hidden contents

If you have Karbonite (another USI mod) then you can refine fuel from Karbonite too if that's available on your chosen celestial body. Some places even have trace Karbonite in their atmospheres and exospheres that you can harvest and refine. 

MKS also provides patches to allow some ISRU parts to split Water into Liquid Hydrogen and Oxidizer, or Liquid Fuel and Oxidizer. 

There are multiple ways, depending on what mods you're using and how you want to do it. 

 

Thanks that's what I had in mind. But as I said testing MPU it did not have any ore option. Only Silicon, Chemicals, Fertilizer etc. plus crusher & smelter option (what they do?)

I just tried to test MPU but no ore option, There are 3 buttons for 2 of each bays, first button for example says Silicon => LFO, or Crusher => Smelter but no ore anywhere.

[TheSuMa]

25 minutes ago, alphaprior said:

first button for example says Silicon => LFO

It's a bit tricky to get how it works.

You should see three buttons:

1. Button to change the receipt (in your case currently "Silicon => LFO")

2. "Next receipt"

3. "Previous receipt"

Click on "Next Recipe" until button1 changes into "Silicon => Ore", then click on button 1 "Silicon => Ore"

Edited January 18, 2021 by TheSuMa

[alphaprior]

Well I tried.... no matter what I do no ore anywhere!

I did what you said next/previous bay and I get no ore. 
When 1st button says Silicon => LFO I can change to: crusher/smelter, metals, fertilizer, liquid fuel, monoprop., chemicals and polymers nothing else.
And whatever other combination I try I see no ore option. 

Edited January 18, 2021 by alphaprior

[Kielm]

9 minutes ago, alphaprior said:

Well I tried.... no matter what I do no ore anywhere!

I did what you said next/previous bay and I get no ore. 
When 1st button says Silicon => LFO I can change to: crusher/smelter, metals, fertilizer, liquid fuel, monoprop., chemicals and polymers nothing else.
And whatever other combination I try I see no ore option. 

I think there's been a misunderstanding. 

The MPUs (and a lot of MKS parts) have "Swappable bays" that can be swapped out to different converters. Check the part info to find out what each converter does. 

If you check the part info for the MPU (right click on it in the parts list and scroll down the info), it should show that the "LFO" convertor converts Ore into LiquidFuel and Oxidizer.

[alphaprior]

I know it's the first thing I checked and started testing it. 

I see the 2 swappable bays I can make them both do the same thing or something different, 1st button changes input 2nd/3rd button change output. Just no ore!
I'm wondering maybe there is another mod that prevents MKS from working properly...

[Kielm]

21 minutes ago, alphaprior said:

I know it's the first thing I checked and started testing it. 

I see the 2 swappable bays I can make them both do the same thing or something different, 1st button changes input 2nd/3rd button change output. Just no ore!
I'm wondering maybe there is another mod that prevents MKS from working properly...

No, you don't choose inputs & outputs. 

The first button changes the bay. From "Current option => Another option". 

The second and third buttons change what "=>Another option" is. So If you have an LFO convertor installed, you can choose "Next Bay" to keep scrolling through converters that you want to swap to, and then press the first button to actually install that converter.

So you won't see an "Ore" option, because there's no "Ore converter". There should be LFO, LiquidFuel and Monopropellant converters that take Ore as an input (which you can see by looking at the information for the MPU:

Edited January 18, 2021 by Kielm

[Cruesoe]

15 minutes ago, alphaprior said:

I know it's the first thing I checked and started testing it. 

I see the 2 swappable bays I can make them both do the same thing or something different, 1st button changes input 2nd/3rd button change output. Just no ore!
I'm wondering maybe there is another mod that prevents MKS from working properly...

Are you using Rational Resources?

That removes or reduces ore.

[TheSuMa]

20 minutes ago, alphaprior said:

I see the 2 swappable bays I can make them both do the same thing or something different, 1st button changes input 2nd/3rd button change output. Just no ore!
I'm wondering maybe there is another mod that prevents MKS from working properly...

Ore is no option on MPU, it's on the drills:

1. Check what recipe you need in parts contextmenu and what resources you need:

• Recipe "LFO"
• You need Ore / EC (We ignore the Machinery for now as the MPU ships with a decent amount to start with)
• You get LF / OX (We ignore the Rocks for now as they get dumped away if it can not store it)

2. Create a craft that is capable of mining Ore And processing it into LF / OX with all the required storage:

• A drill set to ORE
• An MPU set to LFO
• An empty LF / OX tank
• A container for the intermediates (Ore)
• Some Power
• Some Cooling

3. Deploy in a Biome that has Ore (Check with Surface Scanning module)

• Deploy and Start Drill
• Start MPU

[alphaprior]

Thanx Kielm  finally I got it. It's very confusing. My logic says input = output, MPU says LFO => Liquid Fuel. I did a test drive and was able to produce both Liquid Fuel and Oxidizer.

So no I only have to send it to the Mun and start producing. Btw what about heat, for the test drive I installed 2 Thermal Radiators wrap around full. What would be an optimal option?

 

Thanx  TheSuMa too. A very good example. I will use it and probably will help others too.

Edited January 18, 2021 by alphaprior

[Kielm]

16 minutes ago, alphaprior said:

Thanx Kielm  finally I got it. It's very confusing. My logic says input = output, MPU says LFO => Liquid Fuel. I did a test drive and was able to produce both Liquid Fuel and Oxidizer.

So no I only have to send it to the Mun and start producing. Btw what about heat, for the test drive I installed 2 Thermal Radiators wrap around full. What would be an optimal option?

 

Thanx  TheSuMa too a very good example. I will use it and probably will help others too.

I agree, it's confusing the first time you use it, then it makes sense. It's an mechanic that's been around for a while and I don't think it's really been changed since it's creation. 

Heat is again a little complicated, the converters and drills will be less efficient when they get too hot (or will overheat and stop) so you'll want adequate cooling for each running converter / drill.

So the MEU-100 drill has a max cooling required of 50kW:

Spoiler

The 2.5m MPU has a max cooling required of 1000kW:

Spoiler

and the small thermal control system can handle 50kW:

Spoiler

(Ignore the SystemHeat thermal parameters, that's from another Mod)

So add up the maximum heat for your parts (your heat output may be different from the examples I've used) and add enough heat radiators to dissipate it all - Max Cooling and Core Heat xFer are the values you should be paying attention to, if I remember correctly. 

Remember: Test it on the pad / runway. You may find that multiple modules produce more heat. Let the drills & MPU run all together up to their maximum heat output and ensure they don't outmatch your available cooling. Once you land it somewhere else it'll be too late to add more radiators!

Edited January 18, 2021 by Kielm

[alphaprior]

The wrap around worked well altough I did not test it for long time, I will use a thermal solution at max 1000Kw as you suggest.

I always test on launchpad especially on something new.  

Edited January 18, 2021 by alphaprior

[RoverDude]

5 hours ago, Tabris said:

are they going to be modular or monolithic

Monolithic, or more specifically, they launch as the cylindric core, then after they are fed sufficient MatKits, the bits will appear and construction will be complete.

[Kielm]

9 hours ago, RoverDude said:

Who likes orbital shipyards?  (2.5m and 5m flavors)

These look very cool. How are the new Konstruction mechanics going to work with this? Is it going to be similar to Ground Konstruction's kits or something different?

8 hours ago, RoverDude said:

Trying to get a pre-release ready so people can play with the mechanics even if the models are still white stand ins

Nice. I'm hoping for a couple of fixes for Konstruction parts going nowhere, moving heavier stuff with more 'enhancers', and a fix for the Orbital Logistics window misbehaving after transfers but I understand it might be a while before those are addressed.

I'm reverting to KIS/KAS for the majority of on-site building at the moment but Konstruction looks like it's going interesting places

[notthebobo]

4 hours ago, alphaprior said:

I just tried to test MPU but no ore option, There are 3 buttons for 2 of each bays, first button for example says Silicon => LFO, or Crusher => Smelter but no ore anywhere.

In the spirit of teaching to fish rather than giving a fish, there really are a lot of answers in the Wiki, for example "Changing Converters" in the FAQ.

11 hours ago, RoverDude said:

Who likes orbital shipyards?  (2.5m and 5m flavors)

O, the poly count!   Can't wait to try it. 

Will this be similar to the GC shipyards where bundles are shipped and attached then built out, or will the ship be designed in the VAB and then launched from here?

[alphaprior]

@notthebobo  I will read this too, though I got how it works now.

[RoverDude]

5 hours ago, Kielm said:

These look very cool. How are the new Konstruction mechanics going to work with this? Is it going to be similar to Ground Konstruction's kits or something different?

Nice. I'm hoping for a couple of fixes for Konstruction parts going nowhere, moving heavier stuff with more 'enhancers', and a fix for the Orbital Logistics window misbehaving after transfers but I understand it might be a while before those are addressed.

I'm reverting to KIS/KAS for the majority of on-site building at the moment but Konstruction looks like it's going interesting places

Something different - no DIYKits.  Also p what do you mean by Konstruction parts going nowhere?  (side not - be forewarned in the next release all KIS/KAS support is deprecated).

3 hours ago, notthebobo said:

In the spirit of teaching to fish rather than giving a fish, there really are a lot of answers in the Wiki, for example "Changing Converters" in the FAQ.

O, the poly count!   Can't wait to try it. 

Will this be similar to the GC shipyards where bundles are shipped and attached then built out, or will the ship be designed in the VAB and then launched from here?

Designed in VAB yes, DIYKits no

[Kielm]

2 hours ago, RoverDude said:

Also p what do you mean by Konstruction parts going nowhere?

This:

On 1/11/2021 at 12:21 AM, Kielm said:

Actually, I can't build anything. The logs says "[ERR 00:22:11.528] [ModuleInventoryPart]: Unable to create a snapshot part at index 0. Unable part name=battery-rad-125". 

Occured when craft where in local logistics range. Which is kind of a crucial time for being able to build parts.

 

2 hours ago, RoverDude said:

(side not - be forewarned in the next release all KIS/KAS support is deprecated).

Noted. To be honest with all the new stuff I can ditch KSTS, KIS and KAS, the WOLF mechanics are a game changer!

Edited January 18, 2021 by Kielm

[goldenpsp]

1 hour ago, Kielm said:

Occured when craft where in local logistics range. Which is kind of a crucial time for being able to build parts.

Does the konfab craft have enough local inventory to hold the part being built?  Just speculating but I don't know if I have seen any mention that this konstruction capability works with disconnected inventory but I may have missed it.