[1.12.X] Feline Utility Rovers v1.3.4 (28. April 2022)

[Netrom]

I must say I really love this mod! 

I have sometimes had problems with the bellowed joint getting stuck in a position when using time warp. Locking the joint before time warp usually help so it nothing critical, and also when crashing hard(parts blowing up) it sometimes get stuck in awkward positions, but I guess that's to be expected during such hard impacts =p

[Nils277]

5 hours ago, ZewelVonLelek said:

@Nils277 this mod is absolutely awesome, especially the flexible joints and the whole design of the rovers

If I may make a few suggestions, though, would it be possible to have frontal versions of some tail pieces (the tank, cargo ramp, airlock) maybe through mesh variant or texture switch, or maybe an interesting combination of functions in some parts (passable fuel tank with lower capacity, roof storage, airlock/fuel tank, airlock/RemoteControl front piece, drill, cargo bay with doors to the roof, deployable support legs from side wedge or dettachable passable bellowed joint)?

Cool that you like this mod. 

That are a lot of suggestions for new parts. I think making the rear pieces adjustable to also be at the front is easy. This is already done for the front piece and the bumper. 

I might add other pieces for the top of the rover (cargo, fuelcell or similar)

A detachable version of the passable bellowed hitch is not really possible because there are some restrictions from the animation of the bellow. Adding this possibility would make the codd even mor complicated and therefore prone to errors.

The other parts are rather special edges cases. I'd like to keep the number of parts rather low, so i keep them in mind but will only add them if a lot of people want to have this part 

Edited February 22, 2017 by Nils277

[Nils277]

23 hours ago, Netrom said:

I must say I really love this mod! 

I have sometimes had problems with the bellowed joint getting stuck in a position when using time warp. Locking the joint before time warp usually help so it nothing critical, and also when crashing hard(parts blowing up) it sometimes get stuck in awkward positions, but I guess that's to be expected during such hard impacts =p

Hmm...i though i had tested the bellowed joint/hitch in timewarp. When exactly does this happen? Do you have any steps to reproduce this? Or a craft where this happens more often/all the times in timewarp?

Can't say much about the crashing though. There might be some really strange behaviours when the vessel deforms slightly because of the crash.

[Rhedd]

I'm a big fan of rovers, so I've  tried every rover mod there's been, and at the risk of slighting some other talented modder, yours is the best ever. I love everything about it!

I've noticed a small error, though. The KIS container part doesn't have mounting points for wheels/undercarriage containers.

And if you run out of ideas (heh), I'd love to see a main hull part that was a simple crew transport module, no frills, just 4 or 6 seats, maybe facing inward along the walls like a troop transport. Be nice for shuttling people around from one bit of a base to another.

Keep up the awesome work!

[Nils277]

5 hours ago, Rhedd said:

I'm a big fan of rovers, so I've  tried every rover mod there's been, and at the risk of slighting some other talented modder, yours is the best ever. I love everything about it!

I've noticed a small error, though. The KIS container part doesn't have mounting points for wheels/undercarriage containers.

And if you run out of ideas (heh), I'd love to see a main hull part that was a simple crew transport module, no frills, just 4 or 6 seats, maybe facing inward along the walls like a troop transport. Be nice for shuttling people around from one bit of a base to another.

Keep up the awesome work!

Thanks

Yeah...had a derp moment when setting up the wheel nodes on that part. Will be fixed in the next update.
I'll put the crew transport part on the list. Not sure when and if it will be added though (depends on how many ppl want to have that part  )

 

Does anyone else experience problems with the hitches/joints with timewarp or after crashes? 

Edited February 24, 2017 by Nils277

[a__gun]

Using this (and loving it) in a reasonably heavily modified 64 bit game and not had any crashes for a while. No issues with the hitches.

What is the compatibility of the docking port with the stock and KPBS ones? For that matter, what's the state of compatibility between the stock and KPBS ports?

[AccidentalDisassembly]

10 hours ago, Nils277 said:

Thanks

Yeah...had a derp moment when setting up the wheel nodes on that part. Will be fixed in the next update.
I'll put the crew transport part on the list. Not sure when and if it will be added though (depends on how many ppl want to have that part  )

 

Does anyone else experience problems with the hitches/joints with timewarp or after crashes? 

I experienced part of that when testing out the pack - sorry, was a while ago and I don't have logs. Short version: make a rover, go crash it hard, some pieces of the rover blew up (for example - a three-section rover loses the third/rear section, but the other two sections remain and are still connected via bellows/hitch), remaining joints didn't move/flex.

EDIT: Also, a small suggestion for the pack: ideally, it would be nice if the wheels could be used with parts other than the rover bits. Maybe it could be possible to allow surface attachment, and to add a toggle for the base mesh (the part that integrates seamlessly with the rover bodies) to reveal a base appropriate for surface attachment. 

Edited February 25, 2017 by AccidentalDisassembly

[Dr.Wolfram]

22 hours ago, Nils277 said:

Does anyone else experience problems with the hitches/joints with timewarp or after crashes? 

Not after timewarp but after connecting pipes:

Spoiler

Here is the jetway i tried to build:

...aaand after connecting those crates using pipe, boink!, flexible joint has new center...(I mean if I move jetway slightly and then set spring force higher it returns to that angle), all the time when I attach/detach a pipe flex-joint sets new angle as 'center'

gonna post log later

 

[Nils277]

37 minutes ago, Dr.Wolfram said:

Not after timewarp but after connecting pipes:

  Hide contents

Here is the jetway i tried to build:

...aaand after connecting those crates using pipe, boink!, flexible joint has new center...(I mean if I move jetway slightly and then set spring force higher it returns to that angle), all the time when I attach/detach a pipe flex-joint sets new angle as 'center'

gonna post log later

 

Hmm, feared as much. A log won't help me here...It is rather a mathematical problem. Can you send me the save where you can reproduce this? This would be really helpful :-)

[Dr.Wolfram]

22 minutes ago, Nils277 said:

Can you send me the save where you can reproduce this?

Ehm, im new with this bug-hunt thingy I'm kinda confused what I need to send, you mean game's save? That one in KSP/saves/<generic funny career name>/quicksave #..., or entire career saves with craft files?

Edited February 25, 2017 by Dr.Wolfram

[Nils277]

@Dr.Wolfram The file called persistent.sfs (or similar) would be enough. It has to be before the hitch/joint changed its center though. 

[Dr.Wolfram]

@Nils277, Here ya go. Hoping that will help

persistent.sfs stays even before than joint is attached to base (sorry for poor english)

In .rar I packed modlist(just to be sure), persistent.sfs, and recreated troubleshooting craft using just stock parts and your mods(what to do to repeat bug is written in craft's description)

 

Edited February 25, 2017 by Dr.Wolfram

[Nils277]

@Dr.Wolfram Thanks a lot! This will be a great help to find a way to fix this. 

[Nils277]

@Dr.Wolfram It seems i'm kinda lost at this one. I loaded the vessel in the VAB and the hitch does not even behave corretly with quicksaving/loading. Only after i rebuild the joint/hitch from scratch it worked from the VAB. 

Did you create the base in the VAB or the SPH?

At least i may have found the reason for the wrong center for the rotation after attaching KAS. It is due to the fact, that KAS seems to trigger OnVesselWasModified twice without the game having a fixed update between them. This causes the vessel ro rotate the joint twice to be correct and eventually "corrects" one time too much. Will have to find a way around this.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Nils277

[Dr.Wolfram]

 @Nils277, base was created in VAB

Another minor thingy (yup, somehow I can only build bug-infested bases) that rarely happened: everything works but joint flex.animation is freezed, reloading corrects everything

Edited February 27, 2017 by Dr.Wolfram

[Nils277]

1 hour ago, Dr.Wolfram said:

 @Nils277, base was created in VAB

Another minor thingy (yup, somehow I can only build bug-infested bases) that rarely happened: everything works but joint flex.animation is freezed, reloading corrects everything

Found that one too..this one is easy to fix.

But for the other bug, the name of your vessel was quite fitting  It causes headaches...

[abbe026]

Hi!

I really like the mod but i got one problem with it. In the latest update you removed the function to level up kerbals in the lab, but i want to be able to do that. So i wonder if there's any way i can maybe take some files from an older version and pair it with the new version so i still get the new parts.

Thanks in advance

Edited February 28, 2017 by abbe026

[FirroSeranel]

Ni Nils,

I'm piloting a Mun mission, and after the flight there and the landng (with a rover and trailer connected vertically with the decoupler frame to the sides of the ship), the hitch's ball joint was at an odd angle. When I tried to dock, it forced the rover and trailer into about a 60 degree V. I tried fixing it with KAS, and it made the rover 'crumple' into a ball, and then flip off into space with phantom forces.

I was able to rebuild the entire rover using KAS, integrating the most important parts of the trailer into it, which was a fun adventure, but... still, very strange behavior.

I also noticed, on a few different attempts, that sometimes after a hard crash, the hitch joint breaks and won't rotate anymore. So definitely some funky stuff going on.

[FirroSeranel]

Another small issue... the fuel cell undercarriage piece isn't being recognized by AmpYear power management, or by BonVoyage rover autopilot. A rover with plenty of power, but only produced by those and no solar panels (they were broken by my spectacular crashing abilities!) was considered as having zero power production by both, so BonVoyage wouldn't turn on, and AmpYear registered 0 power production. Not sure what needs to be done to fix that... shouldn't Module Manager take care of it? Not sure why it wouldn't be... maybe that part isn't defined as a power producer in the .cfg?

[Raptor22]

On 2/27/2017 at 7:44 AM, Dr.Wolfram said:

 @Nils277, base was created in VAB

Another minor thingy (yup, somehow I can only build bug-infested bases) that rarely happened: everything works but joint flex.animation is freezed, reloading corrects everything

While off-topic, I have to say that is a very weird looking base! Were you simply throwing together parts for a demonstration rig? 

Besides, I don't think the kerbals will be too happy with an upside-down base.

[FellipeC]

I have a question about that adapter/decoupler that you attach to the end of rover so you can mate it to a rocket. When you use a flatbed with a bumper you can't add that adapter, is that the expected behavior?

[Dr.Wolfram]

@Raptor22, it was just a test. I thought that bug happened when extra-heavy pieces were attached by pipes, thats why 2 base hubs (and container full of metal in background + some lightweight parts).

While off-topic, here's my actual base

Spoiler

This is what I planned(unfinished):

And here's already built part on Ceti(GPP):

 

[Nils277]

@FirroSeranel The bug of the hitch is known and i already have a fix for it in the pipeline. Once i'm sure the fix does not break anything else there will be an update.

The fuelcell did not use the stock converter, but a version based on it. It will use the stock resourceconverter in the next update and should be recognized by the  BonVoyage  and AmpYear.

@FellipeC Your are right, i did not think about the adapter when adding the bumper. Will add a stack node to it so one can attach the adapter.

@Dr.Wolfram Thats a hell of a base. How often is it eaten by the Kraken?  

 

[FirroSeranel]

13 hours ago, FellipeC said:

I have a question about that adapter/decoupler that you attach to the end of rover so you can mate it to a rocket. When you use a flatbed with a bumper you can't add that adapter, is that the expected behavior?

I would assume so, as from a realism point of view, there's nowhere for the upper stabilizing arms to connect. They'd just connect in midair. The more troubling issue for me with the fact that the bumper doesn't have bottom nodes, is that you can't attach a -hitch-, which precludes a pure flatbed trailer with none of the taller pieces.

Not that that'd necessarily be a good idea... any equipment on the flatbeds, without taller pieces to protect it on a rollover, would just be instant toast. Unless the flatbed could be made to have such a low center of gravity it -can't- flip... but since the hitch will only rotate so far before the rover will flip the flatbed over with it (realistically so), it could still flip and all your stuff would die.

So I'm not sure about the utility of it... but it does seem like the bumper should have bottom nodes.

[Nils277]

42 minutes ago, FirroSeranel said:

I would assume so, as from a realism point of view, there's nowhere for the upper stabilizing arms to connect. They'd just connect in midair. The more troubling issue for me with the fact that the bumper doesn't have bottom nodes, is that you can't attach a -hitch-, which precludes a pure flatbed trailer with none of the taller pieces.

Not that that'd necessarily be a good idea... any equipment on the flatbeds, without taller pieces to protect it on a rollover, would just be instant toast. Unless the flatbed could be made to have such a low center of gravity it -can't- flip... but since the hitch will only rotate so far before the rover will flip the flatbed over with it (realistically so), it could still flip and all your stuff would die.

So I'm not sure about the utility of it... but it does seem like the bumper should have bottom nodes.

Uhm, the bumper has a node to attach the hitch on it. It is at the same hight as the nodes on the other parts for this hitches:

Edited March 2, 2017 by Nils277
Added image