[1.3.1] Aviation Lights v3.14 [use MOARdV's version instead!]

[Sochin]

Whats the chance of having these lights grabable with KAS?

[Mechrior]

Whats the chance of having these lights grabable with KAS?

in the KSA folder there is a file named addModule.cfg

in this file add this to the bottom

///////// Aviation light green nav ///////

GRAB

{

stockPartName = lightnav_green

evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.09, -0.23)

evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)

physicJoint = true

storable = true

storedSize = 0.05

attachOnPart = True

attachOnEva = True

attachOnStatic = False

attachSendMsgOnly = False

}

just change the stockPartname = lightnav_green to the name of the part listed in the CFG for each light

I might even make a module manager cfg file just for aviation lights

[Deadweasel]

Whats the chance of having these lights grabable with KAS?

I could be wrong here, but just looking through a previous install, I found a file called "addModule.cfg" in the root KAS folder. Inside, there are entries that add references to parts that are intended to be grab-able. Perhaps simply adding a reference to each kind of light in that file would make them grab-able (after being placed in the VAB/SPH anew) as well?

///////// AviationLight-Green Navlight ///////
GRAB
{
    stockPartName = lightnav_green
    evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.09, -0.23)
    evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
    physicJoint = true
    storable = true
    storedSize = 2
    attachOnPart = True
    attachOnEva = False
    attachOnStatic = False
    attachSendMsgOnly = False
}
///////// AviationLight-Red Navlight ///////
GRAB
{
    stockPartName = lightnav_red
    evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.09, -0.23)
    evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
    physicJoint = true
    storable = true
    storedSize = 2
    attachOnPart = True
    attachOnEva = False
    attachOnStatic = False
    attachSendMsgOnly = False
}
///////// AviationLight-White Navlight ///////
GRAB
{
    stockPartName = lightnav_white
    evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.09, -0.23)
    evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
    physicJoint = true
    storable = true
    storedSize = 2
    attachOnPart = True
    attachOnEva = False
    attachOnStatic = False
    attachSendMsgOnly = False
}
///////// AviationLight-Blue Navlight ///////
GRAB
{
    stockPartName = lightnav_blue
    evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.09, -0.23)
    evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
    physicJoint = true
    storable = true
    storedSize = 2
    attachOnPart = True
    attachOnEva = False
    attachOnStatic = False
    attachSendMsgOnly = False
}
///////// AviationLight-Amber Beacon Light ///////
GRAB
{
    stockPartName = lightbeacon_amber
    evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.09, -0.23)
    evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
    physicJoint = true
    storable = true
    storedSize = 2
    attachOnPart = True
    attachOnEva = False
    attachOnStatic = False
    attachSendMsgOnly = False
}
///////// AviationLight-Red Beacon Light ///////
GRAB
{
    stockPartName = lightbeacon_red
    evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.09, -0.23)
    evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
    physicJoint = true
    storable = true
    storedSize = 2
    attachOnPart = True
    attachOnEva = False
    attachOnStatic = False
    attachSendMsgOnly = False
}
///////// AviationLight-White strobe Light ///////
GRAB
{
    stockPartName = lightstrobe_white
    evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.09, -0.23)
    evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
    physicJoint = true
    storable = true
    storedSize = 2
    attachOnPart = True
    attachOnEva = False
    attachOnStatic = False
    attachSendMsgOnly = False
}

I'm only guessing here, but give me a bit to experiment and I'll report back.

EDIT: Yep! You just need to add an entry for each light to the addModule.cfg file. I've edited the code snippet above to include all the current light types available in the stock distribution.

I just slapped a light on a three-kerb pod and launched it. EVA'd a kerbal and was able to pluck and place the green light I was testing with, without problems. It looks a little wonky with the light hanging out over his pack, but that could probably be fixed by fiddling with the evaPartPos values a bit.

Edited February 5, 2014 by Deadweasel

[Commissar]

love the av lights... i was able to (barely) see a spacecraft ifn a 200km orbit, from just 50km altitude.

[lextor]

This mod works in 0.23 ?

[Brian*G]

It looks a little wonky with the light hanging out over his pack, but that could probably be fixed by fiddling with the evaPartPos values a bit.

Thinking of the size of the navlights, I thought they are the about the size of a 2HOT thermometer, so I tried the values of it.

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evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.12)

These are the values grabbed from 2HOT which I pasted instead of the values from above. I think they fit quite nicely.

This mod works in 0.23 ?

Yes, it works.

[BigNose]

This mod works in 0.23 ?

Yep, works exactly like in .22!

[Deadweasel]

love the av lights... i was able to (barely) see a spacecraft ifn a 200km orbit, from just 50km altitude.

http://i.imgur.com/3GJFwb4.png

http://i.imgur.com/e8SECFI.png?1

At 150km, the only thing you're going to see are planets/moons. That is most likely Minmus that you've spied there!

Other ships won't become visible until you're about 2.25km out from them.

[MKSheppard]

I don't know if this has been asked; but is there a possibility of a small, circular EXTREMELY bright white strobe?

The Apollo LEM had an extremely powerful (9,000 candlepower) strobe beacon used for docking -- it was visible from almost 100 miles away in space:

Link to PDF of it

[Ruedii]

It would be cool to use the new tweakables to handle colors, if that's possible.

I'd recommend using either 0-15 (12 bit color), and have a fourth scaler for intensity.

This is simply because using full 24 bit color, would be impracticle.

You could also have a quick button to rotate between popular colors (Red, Green, Blue, White and Amber)

By having the color and brightness adjustable, this would further reduce the number of different parts needed, thus reducing the size of the mod, while increasing the mod's functionality.

[Deadweasel]

I don't know if this has been asked; but is there a possibility of a small, circular EXTREMELY bright white strobe?

The Apollo LEM had an extremely powerful (9,000 candlepower) strobe beacon used for docking -- it was visible from almost 100 miles away in space:

Link to PDF of it

The shape isn't a problem, but there's really no way to get the lights any brighter than they are now, and they certainly won't be visible from so far away in this game (no matter how much I agree that it would be awesome).

[MKSheppard]

What's the maximum distance you can see point lights from in game then? Even a ten mile distance limit would still be useful.

[Deadweasel]

What's the maximum distance you can see point lights from in game then? Even a ten mile distance limit would still be useful.

Max distance before the ship is unloaded from the scene altogether is about 2.5km. Beyond that you won't see a light, because the light no longer exists in the scene.

[MKSheppard]

Darn.

An insane idea came to me just now; possible through a plug in....

Would it be possible to code a minature star with virtually no mass as the rendezvous light? Kerbol casts light throughout the entire system, despite being really far from everywhere....

[Deadweasel]

Darn.

An insane idea came to me just now; possible through a plug in....

Would it be possible to code a minature star with virtually no mass as the rendezvous light? Kerbol casts light throughout the entire system, despite being really far from everywhere....

Kerbol itself isn't really casting that light, in that there aren't actually light rays being fired from it. The light is coming from an invisible source that is omnipresent in the local area, its intensity determined by the player's distance from the star. It is specifically aligned so that it appears to be originating from the star, but it's actually much closer.

In other words, Kerbol is the dressing, but the real light is coming from a point source that's actually present in the local area and will always be there. In KSP, the player is the center of the star system, not the star.

[Commissar]

Max distance before the ship is unloaded from the scene altogether is about 2.5km. Beyond that you won't see a light, because the light no longer exists in the scene.

i dunno, i actually was able to see a sgip froma 100km away. see my photos. i checked ti with the map view anyways

[Deadweasel]

i dunno, i actually was able to see a sgip froma 100km away. see my photos. i checked ti with the map view anyways

Well like I said previously, and unless you've got a mod going that opens up the distance (like Lazor), that's most likely Minmus, not the craft you were expecting. I've seen that same glittering speck many times.

[Commissar]

oh. i don't remember if I checked the position of minmus...

[Vladthemad]

Max distance before the ship is unloaded from the scene altogether is about 2.5km. Beyond that you won't see a light, because the light no longer exists in the scene.

Interesting...that reminded me of something, the stack lights has a pic where he shows his light viewed from 35k up on the Mun?!

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/52014

It's the last pic in the first set of imgur screenshots.

[Deadweasel]

Interesting...that reminded me of something, the stack lights has a pic where he shows his light viewed from 35k up on the Mun?!

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/52014

It's the last pic in the first set of imgur screenshots.

Well... the method to do that is simple, but it's not what most might think at first glance. The one time you can view something very very far away while viewing it from more than 2.5km out is to be flying the ship and zoom the *camera* way out. Note that somebody in that thread was asking about the same thing, and got the same answer:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/52014-Parts-Stack-Inline-Lights-update-29-10-2013?p=685491&viewfull=1#post685491

That said, it is possible to extend the view range with a mod (again, Lazor can allow for this), but doing so means that EVERYTHING within the new sphere radius will also be loaded, complete with all the physics calculation load and everything. It's a great way to load test your computer, I suppose.

[Starwaster]

The shape isn't a problem, but there's really no way to get the lights any brighter than they are now, and they certainly won't be visible from so far away in this game (no matter how much I agree that it would be awesome).

as you mention later, in the case of the sun, the sun we see is not what casts light.

so perhaps the answer is lights with flares. We dont really need to see lights at extreme distance when tricks will do. (flare, decal, etc)

[Commissar]

Well... the method to do that is simple, but it's not what most might think at first glance. The one time you can view something very very far away while viewing it from more than 2.5km out is to be flying the ship and zoom the *camera* way out. Note that somebody in that thread was asking about the same thing, and got the same answer:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/52014-Parts-Stack-Inline-Lights-update-29-10-2013?p=685491&viewfull=1#post685491

That said, it is possible to extend the view range with a mod (again, Lazor can allow for this), but doing so means that EVERYTHING within the new sphere radius will also be loaded, complete with all the physics calculation load and everything. It's a great way to load test your computer, I suppose.

not really, kerbal barely uses 25% of my system's resources. if it was capable of using my full system, I could probably load the entire planetary SOI.

[boywithumbrella]

not really, kerbal barely uses 25% of my system's resources. if it was capable of using my full system, I could probably load the entire planetary SOI.

But KSP isn't capable of using your full system, so it will be a stress test for the 25% that KSP is using.

[Commissar]

But KSP isn't capable of using your full system, so it will be a stress test for the 25% that KSP is using.

lol, that's not really much of a stress test then, is it.

[Deadweasel]

lol, that's not really much of a stress test then, is it.

Well, even though my original post indicated it would be a good system test, I still have to beg to differ. Try opening up the range to 100km. I promise something or someone going to stress out really quick!