[WIP] [1.12.x] Kerbal Electric - Back to brighten up your explosions.

[JonathanPerregaux]

I love self-illumination. Nearly all my ships have at least one light somewhere. I have wanted more choices such as these because who doesn't want a disco space shuttle UFO?

[DJ Reonic]

Are there any plans to add phasing to the blink lights? The idea is, since you have a 2-phase flash program (flash, delay) maybe a button could be added to switch which phase comes first.

 

Example: headlight 1 is set to phase 1 (flash, delay, repeat) and headlight 2 is set to phase 2 (delay, flash, repeat). Both lights have the same flash and delay values. Turn on the blink mode, and voila: wig-wag headlights. I'm planning to build a rescue vehicle for my KPBS bases to go get kerbals who can't land right.

[Fengist]

2 hours ago, DJ Reonic said:

Are there any plans to add phasing to the blink lights? The idea is, since you have a 2-phase flash program (flash, delay) maybe a button could be added to switch which phase comes first.

 

Example: headlight 1 is set to phase 1 (flash, delay, repeat) and headlight 2 is set to phase 2 (delay, flash, repeat). Both lights have the same flash and delay values. Turn on the blink mode, and voila: wig-wag headlights. I'm planning to build a rescue vehicle for my KPBS bases to go get kerbals who can't land right.

No plans.  I try very hard to keep my code from eating up a lot of cpu.  In order to do that the parts would have to communicate between each other or.. a completely new partmodule would have to be created to control selected lights. In a quick mental cost/benefit... too much cpu for too little immersion.

That and I hate doing GUI's as much as I hate doing IVA's

Good idea tho... keep em coming.

Edited September 30, 2017 by Fengist

[Fengist]

Idiot Lights are now available for download on Curse.

This update includes attachment nodes for the searchlight and the light tower.

And.... Idiot lights.

Pro Tip:  If you're using a mod like MKS where fuel/storage tanks can be reconfigured outside the hangar, stick an Idiot Light on them and change the resource for the light whenever you change the configuration.  Yep, you can reconfigure the resource for the idiot light outside the hangar.

One thing I forgot to do was to update the description for the Idiot Light.  I'll get that next time.

Enjoy.

 

[DJ Reonic]

So I have built my rescue vehicle. Behold: BARF-1 (Base Area Rescue Force)

Spoiler

Lights Off

Lights On while Stationary (On Scene)

Lights on While Moving (Responding)

I accomplished this by placing lights, setting their flash lengths, and then varying the delay times. Enable blink and turn them all on, and after the first flash they all fall out of sync, and look super cool.

Edited October 1, 2017 by DJ Reonic

[JeffreyCor]

only suggestion I can think of is for a config for FilterExtensions so it sorts under Lights for the advanced parts list. otherwise this looks great!

[Fengist]

3 hours ago, DJ Reonic said:

So I have built my rescue vehicle. Behold: BARF-1 (Base Area Rescue Force)

I accomplished this by placing lights, setting their flash lengths, and then varying the delay times. Enable blink and turn them all on, and after the first flash they all fall out of sync, and look super cool.

Looks Sweet!  That's exactly why I made the delay's down to .1 sec. So that things could be put out of sync.  I use the dome lights as anti-collision strobes (as if there's another plane that will see that) and stagger their off times by .1 sec.

-------------------------------------

About the future of Kerbal Electric:

The initial reason I created this mod was because I was dissatisfied with stock lights and the only alternatives I saw didn't totally satisfy me.  For now, the selection of lights in this mod considerably extends the possibilities for having illumination.  While I doubt I'm done creating actual lights, I'll be honest, there are only so many ways you can change the range, dispersion angle and intensity of a light.  Everything else is just a new part.  While I could up the ante and make the intensity, range and angle of spotlights changeable by the user, that would totally eliminate the need for visual diversity.  You'd add one light and it could serve all purposes.  Were I to do that, you wouldn't need me any more and there'd be nothing left for me to create.

TLDR: There will most likely be a few more lights in the future but not a lot.

Therefore:

There's a reason why I called this mod Kerbal Electric and not Kerbal Electric Lights.  The latter would confine me and this mod to just lighting.  While it seems there was a desire for more diverse lighting  (500 downloads in one day after the most recent update), I've always had plans to delve into a slightly broader category.  While I am not going to venture into the world of engines like the real company this is a goofy parody of (I can and have created a few but it seems there are hundreds out there now), what I am going to dig into is power generation and consumption.

In the stock world, you have few choices for generating power. Either you run engines for their alternator, you flip out some solar panels, or you stuff gobs of RTG's on your ship and try to bury the ugly model inside (Yea, I've done that since the first version I played, .016 I think)  In the modding world, you have similar choices with the addition of nuclear reactors.

To me, RTG's and reactors have always felt kind of cheaty.  You turn them on, walk away, fast forward 2 years and they're still cranking out power.  For the same reason I removed MechJeb years ago (it was having all the fun), I typically don't use RTG's or reactors.  When I actually play the game, I overload my ships/stations with batteries and solar panels. I try to calculate things so that if I'm on the Mun and have to endure a month without sunlight, that my base can still run at least the basics off batteries till the sun comes back out.

So, taking into consideration that I avoid reactors and RTG's, I'm planning on looking into some alternate, but realistic (no Zero-point energy or perpetual motion crap), energy sources. The first of which will be Stirling engines.

I've already created one animated one for 1869.  But since that pack is a bit of an oddball goofy thing I did to express some really weird creativity, it's time I incorporated at least one idea from it into a more 'spacey' part.  So, using some of it's code and incorporating it into KE, here's a peek at the first power generator to be added, the surface mounted Stirling.

I took this shot at night to make sure the 'glow' works.

This engine will be based on a simple theory, generating small amounts of electricity from heat.  The basis for this technology can be understood in this animated gif.

As heat accumulates in a part it will generate more and more electric power.  The cooling efficiency won't be all that great but, it will act as a heat radiator.  Two of them (which will dissipate even less heat than a single small stock radiator) can handle the heat from one drill (on Kerbin anyway).  And they will generate a small amount of electric power.  While it won't nearly replace the power consumed by the drill, the alternative is to use radiators that (*boggle*) cost electricity.  And since you're tossing that heat away, why pay for it?

So, the theory I'm going on... make them rather inefficient so that you need more than 1. Make them rather heavy, like an RTG so that you won't just stuff 100 onto a ship.  And make them radiators so you can get rid of that excess heat.

Other ideas in this department include intentional generation of power by solar powered Stirling engines.

Comments, ideas & suggestions welcome.

 

 

15 minutes ago, JeffreyCor said:

only suggestion I can think of is for a config for FilterExtensions so it sorts under Lights for the advanced parts list. otherwise this looks great!

Yea, I haven't looked into FilterExtensions yet.  If it's just a .cfg for MM, I'll definitely look into it.  If I need to incorporate an entire mod, not likely.  I try very, very hard not to have 3rd party mods necessary for mine to work.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Fengist

[JeffreyCor]

I'm not really up to speed on how to do it but from what I gather it should just be a cfg file. I wish I knew more about the particulars to be of more help with it.

[Fengist]

1 hour ago, JeffreyCor said:

I'm not really up to speed on how to do it but from what I gather it should just be a cfg file. I wish I knew more about the particulars to be of more help with it.

Actually, just checked. Crzyrndm stopped supporting FE on the 17th.  I'll take a look at his code and may pick it up.

 

[B-STRK]

Interesting seeing the Stirling engine, and definitely agreeing on your view towards balancing, but on the "small" part, I'm wondering however if there would be room in your plans for a larger engine scaled so that, just as you'd place one or two for a drill, one would place a couple of the larger ones for the 2.5 ISRU. Other than that, still thinking of what other non-cheaty alternative energy sources are there. (Probably have a pod with a stationary bicycle connected to a generator, have a Kerbal inside biking the lights on all over the place--kidding, although one could design a KeepFit module around it... )

Okay, now for matters involving the present lineup:

Wondering if the lights (the Dome Light in particular, but I've seen it with the Tower as well) are supposed to cast on Kerbals seated inside. (Makes logical sense if the light is shining through the window, but the Dome Light in this case is mounted away from any windows in line of sight. It's also a bit of an on and off effect). While that's a mod command pod, it also happens with a Mk2 spaceplane (both Mk2 Expansion modded cockpit and stock crew tank). I guess it's probably in relation to your previous discussion on working the code so that your lights can cast shadows against opaque objects (I have also seen the strobe light from the Aviation Lights mod have a similar effect on shining interior IVAs, and it doesn't use the regular stock light module either, IIRC). On that note...

 

One other advantage about the non-shadow thing is that things inside can be lit up. The pic above's with the Hangar's own internal light on, but I've seen it with the Hangar light off. There I could be torn--one fun thing about the non-shadowing effect is that I can save on light parts to shine large areas of a vessel from a single source. But yeah, it does lead to some silly effects, probably including the IVA light up above. 

One though I had. I'm gonna try splicing together a solar power module (looking it up in another mod offering solar panels) into the Tower's config, figuring the light's top surface could double as a solar power panel (similar to how some modern streetlamps are solar-charged). The idea being that, if used as an independent lamp, at least it has the capacity to charge its battery in daylight, to be activated in nighttime. (a) As a suggestion to future updates, is it something too OP or out of scope for KE? And (b) For balance and reasonability purposes, would assigning the OX-STAT's power specs be just right or too much? (I feel like the surface area of the light model of the Tower should be a little below the OX-STAT's surface area). 

One more screenshot before I go. Been really spamming Dome Lights and Towers all over the place for area lighting lately, followed by Floods, Spots, and Search. Case in point would be the landing pad below that is most of the time detached from the refinery next to it (which is why I was looking into adding some solar power generation statistics to the Towers, so I didn't have to add a solar panel to the part count). That spotlight really does carry in range (It'll be lighting up ships under construction soon, if not landed ships at the pad). Once I figure out a way to haul a Tower using KIS about 7 meters up, I'll be replacing one of the B9 light banks in the refinery with a Tower. And just having recently downloaded the update, I'm going to see if I can mount an Idiot Light panel via KIS on the Refinery to test it in situ.  

Speaking of which: ever thought of adding a target-track function to the spotlight? (And going back to the "changing a bulb" discussion earlier, could the speed settings of the Spotlight be set/reset the same way, especially for new KIS installs?)

Thanks again!

 

ADDENDUM: Oh yeah, one more suggestion, this time for light colors. I'd probably call the light blue from my spaceplane screenshot pastel blue, which reminds me of similar lightbulbs (I think they were incandescents or phosphors?) available for sale when I was a kid that I was strangely obsessed about, having a nightlamp with a soft, pastel blue or green color. Maybe the color presents can be expanded to include soft pastels? (I'll boot up KSP once this bar exam lecture wraps up later to see what my light settings for my spaceplane was, and either edit this post to include them or reply if you've responded by then, for your perusal and tweaking if you desire. Also, how does one save colors to the list, as you've mentioned?)

Edited October 2, 2017 by B-STRK

[Fengist]

5 hours ago, B-STRK said:

Interesting seeing the Stirling engine, and definitely agreeing on your view towards balancing, but on the "small" part, I'm wondering however if there would be room in your plans for a larger engine scaled so that, just as you'd place one or two for a drill, one would place a couple of the larger ones for the 2.5 ISRU. Other than that, still thinking of what other non-cheaty alternative energy sources are there. (Probably have a pod with a stationary bicycle connected to a generator, have a Kerbal inside biking the lights on all over the place--kidding, although one could design a KeepFit module around it... )

Not sure if I'm going to go much more into heat dispersion, but as for power, something like this is rumbling around in my skull:

That's a solar powered Sterling engine.  And there's many different types of Stirlings.  While we humans look at them as mostly toys, we're starting to see their potential.

And there's lots of other options for creating crazy types of energy, like the hit-and-miss engine:  Take note at about 30 seconds in, the guy removes the load from the engine and it starts hitting and missing.  The theory with this engine is, it powers up the flywheel and then, only draws in fuel and fires the piston when it needs to keep the rpm up.  

And there's thermoelectric which uses something called the Peltier effect.  If you've ever seen or used a 12v cooler, that's the principle.  Two different conductors can be used to create a heating or cooling effect by passing electricity through them.  But, if each of the conductors are in different temperatures, they can generate electricity.

And there's the little explored wind power.  While I do know of one mod that has a wind turbine on a small tower, it runs at a constant speed all the time.  Having a variable wind speed and having it work only on planets (the other one works even without an atmosphere) would give some other options.  And there's lots of types of turbines that can be made collapsible.

And then, there's the bad part of electricity, the triboelectric effect, which KSP doesn't even consider.

5 hours ago, B-STRK said:

But yeah, it does lead to some silly effects, probably including the IVA light up above. 

Yep, shadowing in KSP is a head scratcher.  Some lights, like Kerbol, do cast shadows.  Others do not.

5 hours ago, B-STRK said:

One though I had. I'm gonna try splicing together a solar power module (looking it up in another mod offering solar panels) into the Tower's config, figuring the light's top surface could double as a solar power panel (similar to how some modern streetlamps are solar-charged). The idea being that, if used as an independent lamp, at least it has the capacity to charge its battery in daylight, to be activated in nighttime. (a) As a suggestion to future updates, is it something too OP or out of scope for KE? And (b) For balance and reasonability purposes, would assigning the OX-STAT's power specs be just right or too much? (I feel like the surface area of the light model of the Tower should be a little below the OX-STAT's surface area). 

One basic line of thought I'm going to try to stick to is to have two types of devices, either a consumer or a producer of electric power.  While adding both to the same part may sound like a good idea there's one part of that you're not considering... the more that I do for you, the less you'll have to do.  I can easily create parts that consume exactly what they create.  But where's the fun in that?

The casting of lights on an IVA is unintentional but unavoidable.  If you were to see the actual part in Unity with it's IVA you'd have a better idea of why that occurs.  Basically the IVA is not where you think it is, inside the part.  It's usually well outside of the part, just hidden.  You could be placing the light where it's on Jeb's head and you'd never know it.

 

5 hours ago, B-STRK said:

ADDENDUM: Oh yeah, one more suggestion, this time for light colors. I'd probably call the light blue from my spaceplane screenshot pastel blue, which reminds me of similar lightbulbs (I think they were incandescents or phosphors?) available for sale when I was a kid that I was strangely obsessed about, having a nightlamp with a soft, pastel blue or green color. Maybe the color presents can be expanded to include soft pastels? (I'll boot up KSP once this bar exam lecture wraps up later to see what my light settings for my spaceplane was, and either edit this post to include them or reply if you've responded by then, for your perusal and tweaking if you desire. Also, how does one save colors to the list, as you've mentioned?)

GameData/Kerbal Electric/Plugin/presets.dat

You can edit it with any text editor.  The fields are basically:  Name,Red,Green,Blue.  The values are called RGB and range from 0 - 255 with 0,0,0 being black and 255,255,255 being white.  To convert from what you see in the PAW, you'll need to multiple the values by 255 (rounded off to the nearest integer) and add them to a new line.  The KE plugin assigns every new light to white.  When you hit the 'next preset' it goes to the first one in that list.  So, if you have one you like and use a lot, move it to the first line in that file.

You're free to create your own sets of custom colors and if you do, I'll be glad to put them somewhere in the OP.  That way, others can copy the ones they like and add them to the presets file.

And let me know how it goes adding the Idiot Lights from your workshop.  I'd like them to be able to do that.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Fengist

[B-STRK]

Heya @Fengist, really interesting ideas proposed up there! If you would let me, I may offer my reactions in the spoiler below? (TL;DR, I find two very promising (Stirling-solar and wind), and one that popped up to mind because of me exploring these ideas you've raised (tidal/wave).)

Spoiler

 

I believe most promising are the Stirling-solar and Wind. Wind in particular as it's expected on atmo planets, it's just not modeled, so the question is just how to model it when and where we plop down the windmill. I can imagine one implementation being treating Wind like a resource, tie it to a biome using the regular resource system, and have a windmill part harvest it--bingo.  It would be like in Cities: Skylines, where different areas of the map have different wind speeds, and thus efficiencies, for windmills. Thing is, would we be accounting for the different atmo densities on the bodies involved, and their effect on windmill efficiency (e.g., I can't imagine an Earth-designed windmill getting the same amount of work out of the same windspeed on Mars, 1% atmo and all that), and can the resource system handle that scaling between planets? (Probably, I mean there's Geo Energy among the resources in my game right now; the Pathfinder mod uses it for energy generation alongside water). As for variable wind speeds, that might be outside of the resource system's capability though (unless you were to RNG the efficiency of the turbine itself or turbines within physics range over a set frequency of checks while the parts are loaded in the flight scene? Just trying to imagine implementations here). But wind, yeah, while "little explored", I believe holds the most promise for easy integration into KSP with existing systems. I'd say go for it there.

Stirling-solar, I'm quite curious about, as a competitor vs. photovoltaic. Let's say, on a base in Minmus, what would be the advantages of going for Stirling-solar vs. photovoltaic: EC/solar radiation there and EC/mass or EC/volume, will the part model (its shape, mass, how you envision it will be mounted on ships or bases) be more advantageous to use vs. a solar panel. I would love definitely to have alternate energy farms for exoplanetary bases, especially outside of atmo and where the aforementioned Geo Energy (not sure if it's CRP or Pathfinder-specific) is not present. Especially ones whose, for example, manner of usage, or manner of deployment, would be very convenient in terms of part size, count, and positioning on a vessel or on terrain. Solar panels can be so fragile, especially when they bounce on the ground due to that base-terrain interaction bug.

If I may suggest, inspired by the windmill proposition, how about a tidal or wave generator for an oceanic base? It'll just be like the wind implementation above--only using the oceanic environment rather than a terrestrial one.

 

Okay, those are my reactions so far (as for the rest, I really can't comment until I see your proposed implementation--the Peltier effect, in particular, I can only imagine as taking advantage of the temperature differences of materials between sunlight and shadow out in space?). I come bearing good news and, well, news that isn't really bad, but you might want to know.

The latter one first: the spotlight on my landing pad from my last screenshot above keeps being loaded defaulted to its launched position pointing south (across the length of the pad) rather than the position I last set it (pointing northwest as seen in said screenshot), whenever I come back to it after visiting some other vessel outside of its loading range, going to the space center, or reloading the game. I'm not sure if this is the intended behavior to return to a default position? If the context is important: the landing pad was constructed on-site using the Ground Construction mod.

And now the good news: Yes, the Idiot Lights are mountable via KIS, manufacturable in situ via OSE, and work as intended.  Please peruse the following screenshots at your undoubtedly happy leisure to see them in action (okay, fine I put them under spoilers so as not to make this post too long on the mobile site ).

One thing to note for anyone who might run into this issue. (It might be more a bug report for OSE or Pathfinder, but leaving it here in case someone tries what I did and runs into what happened, so that they can see it's not a KE issue). My setup uses the Pathfinder's inflatable and reconfigurable modules for my OSE workshop and inventory space (as OSE loads the manufactured products into an existing KIS container on the vessel). Initial attempts to create the IL's left me dumbfounded because they were not appearing on any available KIS container in the refinery (essentially, all the Pathfinder parts there). But in my inventory were deflated Pathfinder modules which I used earlier for OSE manufacturing the first Minmus Tower Light I proudly showed off  before. I thought they might be interfering with where OSE was loading the created parts, so I took out all the deflated Pathfinder modules and manufactured the Idiot Lights again, and voila! The following screenshots.

Spoiler

 

Idiots manufacturing the Idiot Light in the OSE Workshop. At only 15 Material Kits, cheap at the price, too! (As mentioned before, OSE takes care of calculating how much a part will cost, based on its loaded modules, so no need for me to write a patch for it. But in case you're reading this, @Aelfhe1m, should they be more expensive? Because 15 Kits, it's not just a bargain, it's almost highway robbery! )

Certified idiot Bill Kerman (really, based on his Stupidity stat, though admittedly there are even stupider Kerbals I've purged from my roster ) claiming the Idiot Light from the OSE Workshop's inventory (The Pathfinder Casa IHM configured as a workshop)

Said certified idiot Bill installing the Idiot Light right next to the door of the KPBS airlock using KIS (Very important construction note: when the light is first taken out of the inventory for installation with KIS, it will be displayed on the intended installation point as being mounted backwards. It should be spun around using WSADQE so that the mesh representing the front panel will be revealed, and aligned appropriately before attaching it with X. In fact, depending on the mesh model of where the light is to be mounted, it might look like the light has disappeared into the part's surface, that's a consequence of it being backwards upon being pulled out of inventory and some parts having their collider underneath the graphical representation of their surface, I hypothesize. For anyone who encounters this, just spin the part around to get it front facing first and see if it will still mount properly on the desired surface, or be buried underneath its graphics. Don't worry about it, Fengist, it might be a KIS thing, some module line I might have forgotten to include to tell KIS how to orient the part after being taken out of inventory, I've had other parts do this to me before as well. )

And voila, said Idiot Lights in action! (For anyone else reading this: settings must be made from the vessel: unless Fengist decides otherwise they cannot be set by a nearby Kerbal on EVA, so go back to the vessel it's mounted on!). And, well, it's saying I still have reasonable amounts of s#1t in my refinery's s#1t tanks¹! ) And now certified idiot Bill is asking if Wingdings is available as a font setting. Sometimes, Bill is such a s#... hehe )

 

¹ Disclaimer: The Fertilizer resource provided by the Snacks! LS mod + Pathfinder mod is actually not manure, but a combo of ore and minerals, so it's probably inorganic fertilizer. The actual s#1t tanks would be that containing Soil that is the recyclable byproduct of Snacks! consumption. Just being accurate here.  

Okay, below I've reproduced the MM patch I've written for the Idiot Lights to be recognized by KIS. I would also gladly welcome an critique and improvement of the patch from anyone with far more MM experience than me.  

@PART[KE_IdiotLight1]:NEEDS[KIS]
{
	MODULE
	{
		name = ModuleKISItem
		volumeOverride = 0
		stackable = false
		allowPartAttach = 2
		allowStaticAttach = 0
	}
}

The settings ensure that its volume is being derived from its mesh, that it's not stackable within an inventory slot (though I think it can or should be?), and that it can only be attached to other parts with a tool equipped. Again, I might be missing something here, actual MM patch and KIS experts, please feel free to critique me, even rip me a new one if warranted. 

Finally, the light settings for my pastel blue on the PAW are R=0.3, G=0.45, B=0.55, or 77, 115, 140 RGB settings. Noted on how to save it to the list, and on how to set new color presets, now I'm off to grab some color wheel app to experiment.  

Thanks again Fengist, and will be looking forward to more Kerbal Electric!

Edited October 2, 2017 by B-STRK

[Fengist]

Glowy Sterling engines.

 

One of the reasons Sterlings aren't use in human space endeavors is weight.  Compared to photovoltaics, they're heavy.  But, I doubt Kerbals care much about that.  As far as hydroelectric power, no immediate plans.  One of the 'mistakes' I've made in past mods is to make them terrestrial things.  This one, I'll be going to space.

Glad to hear Idiot Lights work are buildable.  If your MM.cfg works, I'll be sure to add it into the next release.

Working on getting the searchlight to remember it's position and speed. That should be relatively easy to accomplish.

Sorry for the rather short reply, getting ready to head to work.

 

Edited October 2, 2017 by Fengist

[Li0n]

@Fengist, @B-STRK for the lights to be stackable in KIS inventory you need to add "ModuleKELight" to the KIS white-list. This MM patch will do the trick :

@KISConfig[KISConfig]:NEED[KIS]:FOR[KerbalElectric]
{
    @StackableModule
    {
        moduleName = ModuleKELight
    }
}

 

Edited October 3, 2017 by Li0n

[Fengist]

On 10/3/2017 at 1:49 AM, Li0n said:

@Fengist, @B-STRK for the lights to be stackable in KIS inventory you need to add "ModuleKELight" to the KIS white-list. This MM patch will do the trick :

@KISConfig[KISConfig]:NEED[KIS]:FOR[KerbalElectric]
{
    @StackableModule
    {
        moduleName = ModuleKELight
    }
}

 

Thanks @Li0n, I know next to nothing about MM.  I'll add that to the next release.

[B-STRK]

19 minutes ago, Fengist said:

Thanks @Li0n, I know next to nothing about MM.  I'll add that to the next release.

Just in case it needs to be done as well, please also switch the stackable line to "true" in the other patch, to prevent any potential conflicts.

[Aelfhe1m]

4 hours ago, Fengist said:

Thanks @Li0n, I know next to nothing about MM.  I'll add that to the next release.

And if you want the idiot lights to be stackable as well then also include: moduleName =ModuleKELCD

[JonathanPerregaux]

These lights are great, and I tend to be picky about mods.

One kinda funny thing I noticed was that the rotating searchlight can illuminate a huge swath on a planet's surface from thousands of kilometers away... which got me thinking about a new orbital agriculture invention I will soon be patenting. As soon as I can alter the laws of physics, I'll be putting out a product that will feed the world.

Also, due to KSP's cut-rate light rendering, it did all this from inside a closed clamshell. Which I find charming, actually.

[AirShark]

Have you thought about making low-visibility formation lights (a.k.a slime lights)? Those thin strips of yellow lights that glow green when turned on, often seen on fighter jets and other military aircraft?

 

 

 

 

[wasml]

On 10/7/2017 at 12:18 PM, JonathanPerregaux said:

One kinda funny thing I noticed was that the rotating searchlight can illuminate a huge swath on a planet's surface from thousands of kilometers away

Was playing with Unity lights once and found a cull mask on the Unity light object - with this you can let the light shine only on layers of your choosing. Turn off the layer for map view (and maybe IVA too) and the light behaves better.

[Fengist]

On 10/7/2017 at 1:18 PM, JonathanPerregaux said:

These lights are great, and I tend to be picky about mods.

One kinda funny thing I noticed was that the rotating searchlight can illuminate a huge swath on a planet's surface from thousands of kilometers away... which got me thinking about a new orbital agriculture invention I will soon be patenting. As soon as I can alter the laws of physics, I'll be putting out a product that will feed the world.

Also, due to KSP's cut-rate light rendering, it did all this from inside a closed clamshell. Which I find charming, actually.

Glad you are amused by it.  Most aggravating for a modder to have spotlights shine through things.

4 hours ago, wasml said:

Was playing with Unity lights once and found a cull mask on the Unity light object - with this you can let the light shine only on layers of your choosing. Turn off the layer for map view (and maybe IVA too) and the light behaves better.

Yes, and from what I understand I could also make a bat signal with that.  I will look into that when I get back to this mod. Taking a short break and getting hovercraft working in MP.

On 10/15/2017 at 12:47 AM, AirShark said:

Have you thought about making low-visibility formation lights (a.k.a slime lights)? Those thin strips of yellow lights that glow green when turned on, often seen on fighter jets and other military aircraft?

I hadn't thot about it because I haven't seen them before.  I spent several years on aircraft carriers and don't even recall noticing them.   But, just looking at what you provided it seems they'd be easy to reproduce. The only problem is other modders.  Any time I make a really thin light there's a very good chance it'll get buried inside a part because the collision mesh and the actual surface of the part you see are in two very different locations.  Placing the small marker lights on the tips of the stock wings is one really good example of that.

Edit * Oh, I don't recall them because they didn't exist 25 years ago... duh... God getting old SUCKS!

Edited October 21, 2017 by Fengist

[Fengist]

And, I just updated the OP.  There's now a link to a website with gobs of rgb color values listed so you can create your own presets.

[B-STRK]

9 hours ago, Fengist said:

Glad you are amused by it.  Most aggravating for a modder to have spotlights shine through things.

Yes, and from what I understand I could also make a bat signal with that.  I will look into that when I get back to this mod. Taking a short break and getting hovercraft working in MP.

-snip, though one way around the collider issue is to offset the lights up over the graphical surface, which I do to a lot of surface-mounted thin parts a lot (which just goes to show there's a lot of mismatch between collider and graphic in the modding community), but I'm not sure what the effect would be on drag modeling.-

To be fair, I'm getting the same effect with a few other lights, too, I seem to recall the rotating "alarm" light from USI Exploration alternately casting an amber pallor on Kerbin's night surface as it rotated. And Geschosskopf found a similar effect as well (not sure which lights he used, stock or mod), so it's probably not limited to Kerbal Electric if lights of all sorts are lighting up the faraway dark. 

Edited October 21, 2017 by B-STRK

[Li0n]

On 21/10/2017 at 6:33 PM, B-STRK said:

To be fair, I'm getting the same effect with a few other lights, too, I seem to recall the rotating "alarm" light from USI Exploration alternately casting an amber pallor on Kerbin's night surface as it rotated. And Geschosskopf found a similar effect as well (not sure which lights he used, stock or mod), so it's probably not limited to Kerbal Electric if lights of all sorts are lighting up the faraway dark. 

@Fengist The mod Engine Lightning had the same problem and their dev manage to fix it, in version 1.5.0 according to their OP, it may be worth check what they have change.

[Fengist]

5 hours ago, Li0n said:

@Fengist The mod Engine Lightning had the same problem and their dev manage to fix it, in version 1.5.0 according to their OP, it may be worth check what they have change.

Thanks. Took a quick look at his code and I see what he did.  He basically shortened his default light range... by a LOT.  For his purposes, creating an engine glow, that will work.  He was casting it out to 40 meters.  When he shortened it to 9 it solved his problem.  All of my point lights (the glows) are well under 2m.  The spotlights go out a LOT further so that method wouldn't work nearly as well for me. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, I'll get out the first hovercraft beta to the public and I can refocus on this a bit.  I may have to come up with some creative solution that checks the orbit altitude, does a raycast to see if it strikes a planet and adjusts range based on that.

Or, just use @wasml's idea and play with masking.