[1.9+] ReCoupler Release Thread - Monocouple your bicouplers! (v1.3.5)

[The-Grim-Sleeper]

On 5/8/2020 at 12:03 AM, ns88ns said:

Feedback

Thank you for the feedback, I will look into it when I have time.

Just to clarify:

The error report from may 6th post is 'if a craft is loaded, while the Recoupler GUI is closed, the connections that are down-tree from the KAS/Robotics parts will not form (essentially falling back to default Recoupler behavior)'.

Is that a full description of the problem?
Does this behavior only happen in the VAB/SPH or also with craft in flight?

The the issues with the default/start conditions in may 6th post, are not related to the correction from the may 8th post, right?

Edit: work-around! I am having some trouble with the 'GUI-bug', as it seems to relate to the 'read/write the ReCouplerSettings.cfg'-step which on my workspace is troubled by default.
But I do think I have a work-around till I can wrap my head around things.
Go into the 'GameData/ReCoupler/ReCouplerSettings.cfg' file and set the 2 added variables there from 'false' to 'true'

This should cause the 'default fallback behavior' to add the KAS/Robotics joints to the craft, so the craft will load properly.
I am having trouble replicating the may 6th issue.
When I load a craft, it will have the ReCoupler-connections that it it was stored with, and will keep those until the craft is modified, or the ReCoupler-settings changed to make the link invalid.
The GUI itself does not update when a craft is loaded; it will store the settings the user had set with the previous build/action.
But the craft will not update to these 'in GUI settings' the moment it is loaded, only after the user 'apply'-s or 'reset links'-s will the craft file get updated.
I consider this behavior as correct; the craft remembers what recouplings it has until it is told otherwise (by using either the 'reset links' or 'apply' buttons in the GUI).

The correction to the 'ReCouplerSettings.cs' is solid; a boolean is not a float, therefore that is improvement, even if I don't quite know what problems are solved downstream.
The pull request has been updated with your suggested code (and a fresh compile of the 'ReCoupler.dll' has been uploaded as well)
Check the update: https://github.com/DBooots/ReCoupler/pull/12/files

Edited June 17, 2020 by The-Grim-Sleeper

[eberkain]

Quote

Recompiled for KSP 1.7.2.
Add compatibility for Breaking Ground Expansion robotics and joints (ReCoupler won't connect parts that have a joint between them).

And here i am trying my best to do exactly the opposite and can't figure out why it wasn't working.  

[Booots]

On 6/16/2020 at 4:06 PM, The-Grim-Sleeper said:

The correction to the 'ReCouplerSettings.cs' is solid; a boolean is not a float, therefore that is improvement, even if I don't quite know what problems are solved downstream.

The pull request has been updated with your suggested code (and a fresh compile of the 'ReCoupler.dll' has been uploaded as well)

Check the update: https://github.com/DBooots/ReCoupler/pull/12/files

 

On 12/27/2020 at 10:30 PM, eberkain said:

And here i am trying my best to do exactly the opposite and can't figure out why it wasn't working.  

Hey! I haven't been the most active in the community recently because of IRL work, but I'm taking advantage of some time off over the holidays (Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, btw!) to catch up on my mods. Wind Tunnel is my passion at the moment so it's getting a lot of (desperately needed) attention. Next is CommNet Manager and then I'll be over to ReCoupler. I see the pull request now and I'll incorporate it alongside some other updates to the settings menu. Cheers!

[Booots]

New release is out. Thanks to @The-Grim-Sleeper for the pull request. I also took the opportunity to update the GUI to use the newer system for that sort of thing.

The toggles to enable joints across robotic or KAS connections do disable themselves if the applicable mod or expansion isn't installed, so if you're not seeing them that could be why. The setting from the settings file are read and followed regardless, so if I've messed up checking for the mod or expansion there is a workaroun - but please let me know if the button isn't showing in some case when it should.

[eberkain]

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Booots said:

New release is out. Thanks to @The-Grim-Sleeper for the pull request. I also took the opportunity to update the GUI to use the newer system for that sort of thing.

The toggles to enable joints across robotic or KAS connections do disable themselves if the applicable mod or expansion isn't installed, so if you're not seeing them that could be why. The setting from the settings file are read and followed regardless, so if I've messed up checking for the mod or expansion there is a workaroun - but please let me know if the button isn't showing in some case when it should.

Thank you, this is so much less floaty than using struts to complete the loop. 

 

[The-Grim-Sleeper]

On 3/13/2021 at 5:28 PM, Booots said:

This is actually a feature I’ve been meaning to test in ReCoupler: whether it’s existing logic works for the new in-flight construction. It might not, but that’s definitely something ReCoupler should do.

I can confirm that in version 1.11, parts placed in inflight construction will form recoupler-joints, after the recoupler menu is opened and the settings applied. 100% in line expected behavior: the links will be made once the player says they should. (pics in spoiler below)
It is also possible to remove links using the existing system.
It is also possible to deconstruct parts after the recoupler-joints have been removed. Removing a part that has recoupler-joints active (but in stock ksp would not have any attached parts) will cause instant kraken. (Removing a part that has attached parts will produce the usual warning)

Part removal is very hard on the frame-rate, but I have no idea if that is part of the vanilla experience or due to any mods I have installed, inc recoupler looked into it and it was caused by Ferram Aerospace Research Continued; their thread is currently a frenzy of debugging activity.

Spoiler

 

Edited March 18, 2021 by The-Grim-Sleeper
Reason for lag found: it's FAR

[Booots]

27 minutes ago, The-Grim-Sleeper said:

I can confirm that in version 1.11, parts placed in inflight construction will form recoupler-joints, after the recoupler menu is opened and the settings applied. 100% in line expected behavior: the links will be made once the player says they should. (pics in spoiler below)
It is also possible to remove links using the existing system.
It is also possible to deconstruct parts after the recoupler-joints have been removed. Removing a part that has recoupler-joints active (but in stock ksp would not have any attached parts) will cause instant kraken. (Removing a part that has attached parts will produce the usual warning)

Part removal is very hard on the frame-rate, but I have no idea if that is part of the vanilla experience or due to any mods I have installed, inc recoupler.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Thanks for doing the testing on this! 

You seem to be in favour of only ReCoupling parts once the user clicks ‘Apply’ or ‘Reset’; is that the consensus? I could imagine a problematic case where a vessel makes heavy use of robotics and a user has deleted a bunch of ReCoupler links; they would have to go through and delete them all again after EVA constructing a part (subject to ReCoupler). This is a pretty edge case, but could cause someone a headache. Should I tap into OnEVAConstructionModePartAttached to automatically do the ReCoupler thing?

For the Kraken strike, I’ll see if I can intercept the beast in OnEVAConstructionModePartDetached to quickly break ReCoupler links to that part. 

I have no idea if the frame rate is normal or not (I actually haven’t played KSP since that update so I’ve never personally used the EVA construction). At this point I doubt ReCoupler would be at fault because it doesn’t do anything on a per-frame basis, but I’ll make a note to confirm I’m not accidentally tying into too many events or Coroutines and causing slowdown there. 

[The-Grim-Sleeper]

9 minutes ago, Booots said:

You seem to be in favour of only ReCoupling parts once the user clicks ‘Apply’ or ‘Reset’; is that the consensus?

Not at all; it is more like a twitch I got when I tried my hand at making a GUI a long time ago. Initial development of that caused a lot off lag, because the 'put info from gui into memory'-step would run way to often. My quick fix for that is to make a button that does that job specifically. But a lot of users would get frustrated that some of their input was 'forgotten' because they were accustomed to more advanced GUI-stuff that I could not provide or understand. So I got a lot of emails and had to respond allot with 'it works fine, you just didn't do the thing'.

[DerGolgo]

Hiya, slight issue.
I didn't play for a while, then updated the game and all the addons (almost literally all the addons, I'm like a kid in a candy store...).
Now, I get the ReCoupler button in editor. But pressing it only changes the color of the button. The friendly ReCoupler window does not appear, and I don't think I've seen any ReCoupling going on. Installing the latest version of ReCoupler I could find was no help.

Am I using the addon wrong, was there a big change in the time I hadn't played?
Is it maybe a problem with my graphics setup, and the window materializes out of frame?
Or is it likely a conflict with another addon?

Does anyone have any suggestions what I could try to figure this out? I've just spent about three days building a booster to haul a 14 ton rover to Duna. They kept shaking themselves apart during launch with the heavy upper section being attached only through a single node (yes, rigid attachment and autostruts were no help there, either).
As you can imagine, my problem here was that at some point in the past, I had gotten so used to having ReCoupler, my design practices seem to have adapted to having it around.

Edited May 26, 2021 by DerGolgo

[Booots]

On 5/26/2021 at 3:44 AM, DerGolgo said:

Hiya, slight issue.
I didn't play for a while, then updated the game and all the addons (almost literally all the addons, I'm like a kid in a candy store...).
Now, I get the ReCoupler button in editor. But pressing it only changes the color of the button. The friendly ReCoupler window does not appear, and I don't think I've seen any ReCoupling going on. Installing the latest version of ReCoupler I could find was no help.

Am I using the addon wrong, was there a big change in the time I hadn't played?
Is it maybe a problem with my graphics setup, and the window materializes out of frame?
Or is it likely a conflict with another addon?

Does anyone have any suggestions what I could try to figure this out? I've just spent about three days building a booster to haul a 14 ton rover to Duna. They kept shaking themselves apart during launch with the heavy upper section being attached only through a single node (yes, rigid attachment and autostruts were no help there, either).
As you can imagine, my problem here was that at some point in the past, I had gotten so used to having ReCoupler, my design practices seem to have adapted to having it around.

Hey @DerGolgo, did you ever get this resolved? If you’re still having problems, could you post your log file?

[AbsoluteHuman]

I wanted such thing in stock YEARS ago! Can't believe it actually exists, my life is complete

[DerGolgo]

On 6/22/2021 at 9:17 PM, Booots said:

Hey @DerGolgo, did you ever get this resolved? If you’re still having problems, could you post your log file?

Sorry I didn't respond earlier. I don't use the board much and forgot I had posted this.
As for my problem and your question. Well, yes and no.
Yes, the ReCoupler window appears now. I updated some other mods, and there it was. In editor, all seems well. Mostly. Sometimes, it appears on the very edge of the screen, and a few times, it didn't appear at all, or won't come back after I close it. I suspect it might just be out of frame maybe? Leaving VAB and coming back seems to fix that.
No, I still can't use ReCoupler. But that problem manifests a little bit differently.

Problems begin in a complete ship.
My habit used to be to attack the sort of engine-plate that has a vertically offset bottom node, but also a center node for an engine. I'd put my engines on the outer nodes, attach a decoupler to the bottom node, and a Procedural Fairing Base Ring under that decoupler. I'd adjust the top node to intersect with the (empty) center node of the engine plate, and it would show up nice and ReCoupled. Upon launch, that whole mess would stick nice and rigid.

Any time I've tried that recently, though, the stack twists and flexes worse than it would without recoupling stuff.
The stack shaking itself to pieces like that used to be a far greater problem, which was why I had come up with that multicoupling approach in the first place. But I still get that problem, which is why I miss how ReCoupler used to let me fix it.

I also had a stabilizing strategy for strap-on boosters, but I'm not sure I'm remembering it right. Trying to implement it, I don't even get colorful joints shown in editor, and I think I may know why that is. But I will be playing around with that some more before I go into detail.

As for logs. I've just installed the update to 1.12 and am presently trying to make it work with my vast collection of mods. I will be looking into recoupler working or not once the game is up and running again.

[RyGuy_McFly]

Hi there, just wondering what version of the mod I should be using for 1.8.1. CKAN doesn't have a compatible version listed, so I'm using version 1:1.3.4 for KSP 1.9.1, so far with no noticeable issues. Could I be using the latest version?

[DerGolgo]

So I just tried this and, to my own great surprise, it actually worked. All the way up to, and including, stage separation (as you can see, the upper mounts attach to the 2nd stage).

When I try ReCoupling something that, at some point, includes a structural tube or an EP-* engine-plate (with the decoupling top node), things tend to go wobbly, or the whole stack starts to slide in on itself like it's telescopic.

Right now, though, and back on 1.11, it seems to work for me, most of the time, so I cross my fingers.

EDIT: dangit - I just had to do a stupid, and had to revert the flight. And now I can't even get her off of the launchpad.

EDIT some more: took some fiddling, but I finally got her launched in one piece again, and the stage separation also worked... ish. The remains of the first stage being left behind looks kinda funky. 
Video is in the spoiler.
 

Spoiler

I only recorded and uploaded, no editing. Fast forward to 35:10 for the funky stage separation.
There is no sound because I had youtube running in the background, and copyright.
When I had a look after uploading, youtube decided to deliver it in 360p. You may have to set the settings to HD manually.

 

 

Edited July 6, 2021 by DerGolgo
full disclosure

[It'snorocketscience]

Sorry for necroposting, but will crafts created by this mod work if shared with other people (who DON'T have the mod in their savegames)? Or does it break craft-sharing?

[Booots]

On 1/11/2022 at 1:36 PM, It'snorocketscience said:

Sorry for necroposting, but will crafts created by this mod work if shared with other people (who DON'T have the mod in their savegames)? Or does it break craft-sharing?

No worries at all, as the mod is still supported under this thread (even if my replies are a little slow... sorry). I haven't tested craft sharing, but nothing this mod does should break craft sharing. I exploit a subtle quirk in how KSP processes craft when saving them to save all the data this mod needs in a way that won't affect other mods or users without this mod. It also means that it's perfectly safe to remove this mod at any time (though I don't know why anyone would want to ).

[SneakyGunz]

Does this work in the latest KSP version?

[Guest]

9 hours ago, SneakyGunz said:

Does this work in the latest KSP version?

Yes

[taniwha]

@Booots I've sent a PR that allows ReCoupler to work across inline docking ports in recent KSP versions (whenever IJointLockState was added to ModuleDockingNode).

[Booots]

Thanks @taniwha! That seems like a good call, though it might lead to people finally noticing one of the edge case bugs that I never got around to fixing... :p I've issued the update including that change. Sorry it took me a while to get to it - I was off getting married.

[taniwha]

10 hours ago, Booots said:

Sorry it took me a while to get to it - I was off getting married.

Hey, congrats! May you and your partner have a long and happy life/friendship together.

10 hours ago, Booots said:

That seems like a good call, though it might lead to people finally noticing one of the edge case bugs that I never got around to fixing... :p

What is this edge-case? I'll keep an eye out for it (and who knows, might even submit another PR).

[MrShelter]

Sorry for necroposting, but I cant seem to find GUI button in either stock toolbar and Blizzy's Toolbar, or even Toolbar Controller. I would live without GUI normally, but I need KAS to work, and the button for it is hidden inside GUI!

[Booots]

6 hours ago, MrShelter said:

Sorry for necroposting, but I cant seem to find GUI button in either stock toolbar and Blizzy's Toolbar, or even Toolbar Controller. I would live without GUI normally, but I need KAS to work, and the button for it is hidden inside GUI!

Oh no! Sorry to hear that you've run into a bug. I'll find some time to check it all on a clean install on my end in the next week or two.

[MrShelter]

Hey, sorry for disturbing, actually that's my bad, I didn't scroll far enough in Blizzy's toolbar