[1.2.2] Ballast and Nuclear Submarine parts mod

[Redshift OTF]

Make submarines great again!

Works for KSP version 1.2.2 - Download at bottom of post

Hello, this is my first mod, if you can call it that. Since I have heard a number of requests from people who want some kind of ballast or buoyancy mod I thought I would come up with something along with a few parts that you can use to make your own Nuclear Submarine!

All the modded parts are copies of Squads parts with new properties as well as a copy of one part from the excellent KAX mod, (for the electric propeller). All stock parts will remain in the game with no changes.

Ballast Tank

This is a copy of the Mk0 fuselage. It contains a tweakable that adds a ballast resource that weighs 1 ton per unit and can hold 100 tons. The tweakable is changeable by increments of 10 tons. A few of these should be able to sink the most buoyant of submarines.

The tank also contains ISU functions so you can add or remove ballast when piloting your craft. No resources are used, ballast is simply created or destroyed. You can add or remove 10 tons per second, 1 ton per second or 0.1 tons per second.

Adding or removing ballast can be set to hotkeys. If you want to toggle adding ballast 1 ton/s for example you will need to select the "Toggle Converter" option directly below the option to add ballast 1 ton/s in the hot key list, (I couldn't change the default name, sorry.)

Ballast Tank (small)

This is a copy of the Oscar B fuel tank. It works in the same way as the standard ballast tank but only holds 10 tons of ballast. This is so you can set the tweakable ballast in increments of 1 ton.

This tank also includes ISU functions to add and remove ballast and you can add or remove 1 ton/s or 0.1 ton/s. It can be hotkeyed the same way as the standard ballast tank.

Nuclear Reactor

Need a bit more power in your sub? Chuck in a PWR Nuclear Reactor! This is a copy of the mini ISU and acts like a powerful RTG, generating 40 electrical units/s at all times.

Thrusters

Submarines can get heavy with ballast added so I have included water based thrusters to allow craft to be turned while stationary or to dock with an underwater base. They are copies of the vernier engine and use an added resource called Water to create 90 kN of thrust and consume about 2 units of electricity per second. They continually generate water so they do not need to be refilled and never run out, (you are in the sea after all).

Marine Electric Propeller

You will need to install the KAX mod for this part. All I have done is change the config file to add a new part based on the Turbo Prop that acts as an electric powered propeller. It generates 2000 kN of thrust, (submarines can get heavy), and consumes about 19.2 units of electricity per second, (about 24 RTG worth). Put it in thrust reversal mode if you want to mount it behind a craft.

This mod comes with an example craft - a Nuclear Sub. You can put wheels on it to take it to water or use the Vessel Mover mod to pick it up and drop it in the sea. It contains no Liquid Fuel, Oxidiser or Monopropellant. The ballast makes the whole thing sink even when empty of resources!

Warning: Ballast tanks are heavy and can break off some attachment points if fully filled. To avoid this attach them radially to your craft or attach them to radially attached Modular Girder Segments.

The best way to use the ballast tanks is to place one at the front of your craft and one at the back and a group in the middle. You can use the front and back tanks to level the craft and hotkey all the centre tanks to make the craft neutrally buoyant. Make a note of the ballast you have used and set up these amounts as tweakables in the Spaceplane Hanger so your craft is permanently neutrally buoyant. Ballast tanks work best when near the bottom of your craft to ensure the craft stays the correct way up.

How to install

Download the mod, unzip, and place the NukeSubBallast folder in your KSP GameData folder.

Download the latest version of Module Manager and place in your KSP GameData folder. Most mods use MM now so you may already have it.

Download the KAX mod. Place the KAX and Firespitter folders in your GameData folder.

I do not own, maintain or have anything to do with the creation of the KAX mod.

Have fun and feedback is welcome.

Edited January 15, 2017 by Redshift OTF

[Jeb-head-mug kerman]

It looks nice... and i definitely would like some ballast tanks for my subs, but i would like some custom textures and modeling done to the parts.

[Redshift OTF]

Yeah, custom models would be nice but I don't know how to do that yet, lol. At least a custom realistic propeller would be cool.

[Jeb-head-mug kerman]

Here is a great tutorial by esvdefcon! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nsYZIpeKppQ

[TMasterson5]

@Redshift OTF shoot me a pm if you want help with modeling and such, Ive worked on a ton of modes around here and am happy to help you out and teach you too! Tried this mod out and I can now happilly say that making Mk3 submarines isnt a miserable experience anymore. Good work man!

[adsii1970]

4 minutes ago, TMasterson5 said:

@Redshift OTF shoot me a pm if you want help with modeling and such, Ive worked on a ton of modes around here and am happy to help you out and teach you too! Tried this mod out and I can now happilly say that making Mk3 submarines isnt a miserable experience anymore. Good work man!

Would you mind coaching another one as well?

[TMasterson5]

5 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Would you mind coaching another one as well?

Not at all. First thing is first though, I recommend you watch this youtube tutorial series to get the basics down. And also I HIGHLY recommend you make a part as you go and follow along to start the muscle memory going. It is long(about 90 minutes or so total) but it will give you a really good baseline of where to start at. After that though I am always around to answer any questions. Trial and error is your best friend here, 100's of parts made later and I still get caught up sometimes and cant figure things out. It seems like a lot at first but once you get it down it becomes pretty straight forward and easy to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsYZIpeKppQ&t=1s

 

Edited January 18, 2017 by TMasterson5
It would help if I actually pasted the link to the video I suppose.....

[Redshift OTF]

21 hours ago, Jeb-head-mug kerman said:

Here is a great tutorial by esvdefcon! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nsYZIpeKppQ

Thanks! I will take a look.

2 hours ago, TMasterson5 said:

@Redshift OTF shoot me a pm if you want help with modeling and such, Ive worked on a ton of modes around here and am happy to help you out and teach you too! Tried this mod out and I can now happilly say that making Mk3 submarines isnt a miserable experience anymore. Good work man!

Wow, thank you for the offer! I'm not getting into anything too intense at the moment due to health reasons but if I get back on the mend I might have a go and if I need any help I will shoot you some questions. The main thing is I am glad the mod makes submarine building a bit easier for you and others.

[TMasterson5]

35 minutes ago, Redshift OTF said:

Thanks! I will take a look.

Wow, thank you for the offer! I'm not getting into anything too intense at the moment due to health reasons but if I get back on the mend I might have a go and if I need any help I will shoot you some questions. The main thing is I am glad the mod makes submarine building a bit easier for you and others.

Yeah I've always used mod parts for my subs but Mk3 subs didn't really work until now with this mod. But yeah my suggestions would mainly be more parts and making your own models and textures and cleaning up the cfg's and UI's a bit

[TMasterson5]

@Redshift OTF any news man?

[IRegisteredjust4U]

I wanted to volunteer an do some art, but when I think about it... there is 100% reason to keep using the stock vanilla models for the ballast tanks...

 

here is my first submarine...

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=860777616

 

I wish I had a ballast tank (with a tweakable storage, say 10 tons, 100 tons 1000, etc... but in all the different shapes of the different hulls) for every "tank" style in the game.

 

But, some placeable ballast tanks would be nice. but really, you don't see the tank, (see saddle tank for submarines) as the tank is part of the hull. Truly.... a tank placeable could be any kind of in-take, since on the outside that's all you see. And that's just for ww2 and early subs, modern subs you don't see anything at all but hull, smooth, so sound and stuff don't bounce and off and it glides better through the water with less friction.

 

that said,..... what the mod needs is "underwater biomes" and ocean life... wait a sec... the mod is pretty perfect (different ballast hull tank types, no new art needed for tanks) ... But a 2nd mod, an "under water exploration" mod with things to find.  would be nice. and hey, if you have health/med issues, you can be the project director and assemble a team. I'd join, I've not made a KSP mod yet, but I'm done a lot of other art stuff. give me a ring, [email protected]

 

[TMasterson5]

^Same, happy to help if needed man. 

[TMasterson5]

@Redshift OTF any news man?

[SaelbenNoa]

The small ballast tank is not appearing anywhere for some reason

[TMasterson5]

@Redshift OTF you around here still?

 

If not is there any interest in this midnight being revived/improved? Comment on this thread if there is please. If there isn't enough to warrent I will see what I can do about at temporarily running the mod or making a similar one from scratch. 

[PmThay]

On 13/09/2017 at 3:11 PM, TMasterson5 said:

@Redshift OTF you around here still?

 

If not is there any interest in this midnight being revived/improved? Comment on this thread if there is please. If there isn't enough to warrent I will see what I can do about at temporarily running the mod or making a similar one from scratch. 

I for one would like to see this being continued.  
 

[TMasterson5]

21 minutes ago, PmThay said:

I for one would like to see this being continued.  
 

thats one person lol