KSP Interstellar Extended Continued Development Thread

[wolfman29]

So while there was some discussion of it, no one has come up with an easy fix for my reported bug, so I think it's still a real bug. Anyone else experiencing this?

EDIT: I checked the part file and it seemed fine. I removed it from my persistence file and when I did so, I checked the tech-tree and it was no longer an available part from that advancement. I think that's the issue - how do I change what parts are available in the KSPI-E techtree?

Edited October 3, 2015 by wolfman29

[RenewableRocket]

So while there was some discussion of it, no one has come up with an easy fix for my reported bug, so I think it's still a real bug. Anyone else experiencing this?

EDIT: I checked the part file and it seemed fine. I removed it from my persistence file and when I did so, I checked the tech-tree and it was no longer an available part from that advancement. I think that's the issue - how do I change what parts are available in the KSPI-E techtree?

I had something similar happen to me at a time, a specific part disappeared from my VAB list, if you are using a mod that let's you modify part filters you might need to look inside "sort by module" to find the missing parts, but from what you are saying above you now don't even have it on the tech tree? Or is it only that it has been moved to another node there? If it's moved then you might have some issue with a MM file configured it to a different branch of the tree, and that might be why it disappeared from your list

More info might be helpful in analyzing your issue, I don't know enough about your problem to reproduce it myself atm.

[wolfman29]

Well, it's on the tech tree as long as my persistence file says I have it. But once I remove it from my persist file, it goes away. And it's completely off of my part list. I can do re-install of KSPI-E, I suppose, and see what happens. And I've taken a look at "sort by module" and I still can't seem to find it there. I'll let you know.

EDIT: So I just realized what happened. It totally moved to another node that I don't have yet. Which is weird, because it still says that it can give me that part from another node (which is weird itself, but whatever). That's frustrating, but I'll deal with it. Sorry guys!

Edited October 3, 2015 by wolfman29

[FreeThinker]

You should install and use KSP Filter Extensions, I have added special filters that allows you to list all KSPI Tanks, Engines, RCS, Reactor, Generators, Radiators, Microwave, IRSU, Science and Warp Drives. Once you use it, you can no longer without it.

[Nansuchao]

Using the last update seems I'm not more able to switch propellant for the TTJ. It become switchable with the last upgrade in the tech tree or I have something wrong?

[Aghanim]

FreeThinker can you please add sound effects to ATILLA thruster? Because I've been abusing ATILLA for a while after knowing it is more efficient than the thermal turbojet, but it feels weird that the engine doesn't produce any sound by itself unlike other jets and rockets

[Trolllception]

FreeThinker can you please add sound effects to ATILLA thruster? Because I've been abusing ATILLA for a while after knowing it is more efficient than the thermal turbojet, but it feels weird that the engine doesn't produce any sound by itself unlike other jets and rockets

This might be a good sound effect for the ATILLA engine. FreeThinker let me know if it meets the license requirements and I can try to loop it a bit better.

https://freesound.org/people/jakobthiesen/sounds/174834/

[etmoonshade]

It's not a bug, the old small Molten Salt reactor which runs on Uranium Oxide is being phased out, for a 2.5m version that runs on the original Hexafloride, which can be transferred and processed much easier.

Sorry; didn't see it in the changelog, so I figured it was a bug.

One other thing that's cropping up. Using a Plasma Thruster, it seems to be reporting its maximum thrust incorrectly in both the VAB and in flight to MechJeb. When it's at full power, it gives its proper information. When the engines aren't thrusting, MechJeb sees a TWR that's WAY higher than it should be. It essentially makes all the calculation tools in it meaningless.

Of note is that I've always had this same problem (since the original FractalUK KSPI days) with thermal rockets - they do something with reporting their max thrust that MJ just doesn't understand. If there's a common piece of code being used between the two, that might be a place to start?

And in general, I'll echo the sentiment that it's nice to have someone take this over and bring it into the 1.0 series. I might not agree with all your various balance and retweaking decisions, but it's still a fun mod. Thanks.

[raxo2222]

Looks like you are making separate engines and reactors.

So what is advantage of engines that have internal reactor in them over standard engines?

[ss8913]

Looks like you are making separate engines and reactors.

So what is advantage of engines that have internal reactor in them over standard engines?

Lower part count comes to mind immediately.

[Profit-]

Massively lower tech level for good propulsion as well.

This here is one of my latest atmospheric scavenger. The big fat part on the bottom is a arcjet booster stage. I turned it down to 2.7 TWR to not tear it apart. It reaches 5000k circular with a bit left in the tank and I jettison it for the MHD and warp capabilities.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Profit-

[etmoonshade]

Is someone able to explain the following behavior of the radiator heat dissipation and/or VAB Thermal Helper to me?

Without reactor:

With reactor:

Why did I apparently lose an order of magnitude worth of maximum heat dissipation?

[SciMan]

@etmoonshade:

I've noticed the same thing happening with the Molten Salt Reactor. Not sure what's going on, but I don't think you actually lose anything.

Perhaps if the maximum reactor core temperature is lower than the maximum radiator temperature, the thermal helper de-rates the radiators by using the max temp of the reactor instead of the max temp of the radiators, because the reactor would melt before the radiators do?

Something like that.

Don't worry about it in flight, AFAIK the radiators still dissipate as much power as the thermal helper says they should BEFORE you attach the reactor.

On the other hand, if you're using the thermal generator its probably a good idea to go for more radiators even if you already have enough to not melt at full power.

It makes the generator MUCH more efficient (larger temperature difference between hot and cold sides = higher efficiency).

I guess if you follow the thermal helper after you put one of those reactors on, the bug actually encourages higher efficiency thermal power generation designs.

[Profit-]

I was testing atmosphere as reaction mass in my launches using the ATILLA today. Here is a 2600 ton monster SSTO That can reach minimus without jettisoning a stage (although you can jettison the intakes if you want as they will never be needed), and mine metal there for the exoplanet launch pads. It switches to water at about 16K and 1100M/S and is powered by 2 Fusion reactors and has 6 max size atilla thrusters and a MHD for efficient orbital maneuvering. It launches from Minnimus with about 1500 tons of metal which makes it about 3800 tons total. The only issue is harvesting the water is not working for some reason but I have yet to track down why and it really does not matter with the ISP of the MHD. This costs about 10 Million, but honestly it is invaluable to be able to create ships in orbit without any sane size restriction.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Profit-

[FreeThinker]

The Reason is THE minimum reactor core temperature is lower than the maximum temperature of the radiator

Edited October 5, 2015 by FreeThinker

[Derwan]

I found a problem when trying to use a warp drive. It doesn't do anything for me. when I click the engage button, it shows me the trail and the sound and the shaking and everything, but it doesn't move the ship at all.

am I doing something wrong? is there a fix?

Edited October 4, 2015 by Derwan

[Hjoyn]

I've been building some heavy lifters to get mass into orbit, and I've been using hybrid thermal turbojets to do so. However, after reading some of this forum I hear that the ATILLA is way better. I did some quick tests and it seems to be good, but I haven't been able to get it quite up to the level of thermal turbojets and their air-breathing ability. My goal is to get 100-1000 tons into orbit at once, with minimal cost. I am using FAR, so I can't just bring up absurd payloads. The main problem I am hitting is that any super heavy launch platform is way too expensive per launch to use in career (which is what I am designing for) or if I use cheap chemical rockets, the whole thing is too intensive for my meh computer. Because of this, I designed it as an SSTO with atmo flight capabilities to land on the runway, but it is really hard to fly and only lifts 100 tons. Any and all tips/advice are welcome, even if I am going about this completely incorrectly. Here is a pic on runway: http://imgur.com/CLjMyoi , and download is at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z4kbq5c88vu7ot3/Heavy%20Lifter%20Hybrid%201-Kerbin.craft?dl=0

Parts Mods:

KSPIE

Mark 4 Spaceplane Parts

Kerbal Foundries

Infernal Robotics

Infernal Robotics Model Rework-all modules

Quantum Struts

KW Rocketry

Procedural Parts

B9 Procedural Wings

Adjustable Landing Gear

Action Groups Extended (I do have more action groups through this, though you probably can still fly it without them)

Mechjeb for all (I don't know if this affects the craft file, so if it does its on here)

FAR (Its built with this, so it may only work in it)

It runs on 2 3.75m fusion reactors with hybrid thermal turbojets. Fly to 20k and 1km/s, then pitch up and switch to nitrogen to get apoapsis >70k. From there you need to use fusion engine and hydrogen to get into 100k orbit. RCS is a huge power drain due to only charged particle generators, and are really only for docking.

I would appreciate any feedback on this and on how to achieve my goal.

[Profit-]

THE Reason is THE maximim reactor coretemperature is lower than THE maximum temperature of THE radiator

That makes perfect real world sense, and anyone who had a vague knowledge of thermodynamics should know that, but if it said something in the thermal overview window like "Dissipation capped at maximum reactor temperature." It would go a long way as far as feedback. (Not that many Kerbal systems are known for their feedback but, you know, if you did want to go that way)

[SciMan]

That makes perfect real world sense, and anyone who had a vague knowledge of thermodynamics should know that, but if it said something in the thermal overview window like "Dissipation capped at maximum reactor temperature." It would go a long way as far as feedback. (Not that many Kerbal systems are known for their feedback but, you know, if you did want to go that way)

I agree, that would be a good way to provide feedback to the player.

Perhaps that line could always be present, telling the player what's currently limiting the maximum dissipation of the radiators (reactor core temp, radiator max temp, etc.).

Also, did anyone see my earlier post about converting the KSPI ISRU parts over to using stock ISRU converter and mining code?

I'm NOT saying to convert over to using stock Ore. Just using the same part modules that make the stock Ore drills and ISRU converter work.

The reactions and extractors can be kept the same, and they can even be made to use Megajoules for power.

Once again, this is NOT a balance change. It's just updating the "back-end" code to something that's easier to understand how to fix if/when it breaks, and easier for players to understand how to use.

Basically, this wouldn't change how KSPI ISRU works as far as the player is concerned, It would just use Stock code to do the same things that it does right now.

As far as I know, all it would take is modifying some configs.

[StarStreak2109]

Hi there,

I do not exactly know, whether this is a bug or a feature. But in my install, solar panels do generate waste heat, although they should. Any idea, where I could look for the culprit? Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Hey guys. We've got an issue between Interstellar and AJE to look into. Blowfish pointed me over here after I reported the problem.

The nature of the problem occurs between interstellar extended and inlets that have been modified by AJE. The affects begin the moment you enter a game and reach the space center scene. Processing slows to a crawl, game interaction is nightmarish, and the log starts spitting out null reference exceptions in relation to inlet parts as per the code below.

[LOG 02:48:53.022] [KSP Interstellar] Exception caught adding to: mk4intake-largecircular part: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at FNPlugin.PluginHelper.Update () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 
[ERR 02:48:53.022] Cannot find module 'ModuleResourceIntake' (-859566458)

[LOG 02:48:53.022] [KSP Interstellar] Exception caught adding to: mk4intake-largeshock part: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at FNPlugin.PluginHelper.Update () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 
[ERR 02:48:53.022] Cannot find module 'ModuleResourceIntake' (-859566458)

[LOG 02:48:53.022] [KSP Interstellar] Exception caught adding to: mk4intake-radial-1 part: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at FNPlugin.PluginHelper.Update () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 
[ERR 02:48:53.022] Cannot find module 'ModuleResourceIntake' (-859566458)

[LOG 02:48:53.022] [KSP Interstellar] Exception caught adding to: mk4intake-radial-2 part: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at FNPlugin.PluginHelper.Update () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

And many, many more entries like that.

Blowfish had this to say in response when I posted in AJE:

It's because they try to find intake modules by name rather than by type. Has to be fixed on their end.

Unfortunately, I can't just pull the inlets folder from AJE, as that breaks all the engines, and I can't pull interstellar, I have an active nuclear truck I don't need spontaneously erased from the universe.

[FreeThinker]

I have taken a quick look and it appears BlowFish is correct. I will have it fixed next version

- - - Updated - - -

I found a problem when trying to use a warp drive. It doesn't do anything for me. when I click the engage button, it shows me the trail and the sound and the shaking and everything, but it doesn't move the ship at all.

am I doing something wrong? is there a fix?

Most likely you are not generating any electric power, please verify if your reactor has run out of fuel, power to sustain the reaction process or the overall system was overheating causing a reactor shutdown.

Edited October 4, 2015 by FreeThinker

[Profit-]

And to show off, here is one of the orbital constructions. It produces 4.5 TerraWatts of power and would otherwise cost 110 million. It required so much material it had to be built with the harvester on minnimus (Taking off with close to 7,000 tons was interesting as it was all on the launch pad.)

[FreeThinker]

Hi there,

I do not exactly know, whether this is a bug or a feature. But in my install, solar panels do generate waste heat, although they should. Any idea, where I could look for the culprit? Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Solar Power panels no longer generate any Wasteheat. This is now handled by the stock system much better. It does still provide MW power. The old Wasteheat production field and resource is an remnant, I will remove it for next version to stop any confusion. Instead it will show the amount of Megawatt produced, which will be low unless they go near the sun Edited October 4, 2015 by FreeThinker

[FreeThinker]

I've been building some heavy lifters to get mass into orbit, and I've been using hybrid thermal turbojets to do so. However, after reading some of this forum I hear that the ATILLA is way better. I did some quick tests and it seems to be good, but I haven't been able to get it quite up to the level of thermal turbojets and their air-breathing ability. My goal is to get 100-1000 tons into orbit at once, with minimal cost. I am using FAR, so I can't just bring up absurd payloads. The main problem I am hitting is that any super heavy launch platform is way too expensive per launch to use in career (which is what I am designing for) or if I use cheap chemical rockets, the whole thing is too intensive for my meh computer. Because of this, I designed it as an SSTO with atmo flight capabilities to land on the runway, but it is really hard to fly and only lifts 100 tons. Any and all tips/advice are welcome, even if I am going about this completely incorrectly. Here is a pic on runway: http://imgur.com/CLjMyoi , and download is at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z4kbq5c88vu7ot3/Heavy%20Lifter%20Hybrid%201-Kerbin.craft?dl=0

I would appreciate any feedback on this and on how to achieve my goal.

In cost is a limiting factor, you can't beat the JUMBO in terms of thrust / credit

- - - Updated - - -

And to show off, here is one of the orbital constructions. It produces 4.5 TerraWatts of power and would otherwise cost 110 million. It required so much material it had to be built with the harvester on minnimus (Taking off with close to 7,000 tons was interesting as it was all on the launch pad.)

http://s4.postimg.org/3tqqd1jzx/image.png

This is madness, does it still work?