[1.8.1-1.12.x] Modular Launch Pads v2.8.0: Launch clamps evolved: Real-style launch bases and towers [24 December 2024]

[AlphaMensae]

8 minutes ago, captainradish said:

Can you make a tutorial on how to stage these? The only parts that I can get to stage with the launch are the "integrated" parts such as the small launch base's clamps. Any towers require manually staging them. I can assign them to "stage" in the actions group, but they fail to do anything. I've been assigning things like the gantry's elevators and drop pipes to 1 so I can get them to release before launch. I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to stage "non-integrated" clamps.

I figured out a little while back you cannot have the base as the root, so it's always the last thing that gets added to my launch vehicles.

Yes, the umbilicals (swing arms and drop pipes) and hold-downs need to be staged like normal or done manually via action group or right-click.

The integrated retract-at-launch parts of the launch stands and plate are part of the launch clamp animation that happens when you stage a l.

And I'll be making a general parts tutorial as well sometime soon.

[captainradish]

18 minutes ago, AlphaMensae said:

Yes, the umbilicals (swing arms and drop pipes) and hold-downs need to be staged like normal or done manually via action group or right-click.

The integrated retract-at-launch parts of the launch stands and plate are part of the launch clamp animation that happens when you stage a l.

And I'll be making a general parts tutorial as well sometime soon.

OK, so I'm not off my rocker. Interestingly, I just discovered that everything not attached to your vehicle will NOT work when assigned to the "stage" action (at least in my game). I assigned all my drop pipes to "stage" and accidentally staged the pad too far up the list (I think it was stage 3 on a 5 stage vehicle). When I hit space to launch, the drop pipes worked like they were supposed to but the vehicle remained attached to the pad due to the aforementioned mistake. When I corrected the staging problem, the vehicle launched like it was supposed to but the drop pipes did not drop. I highly suspect this is simply a problem with the "stage" action. I've actually never really played all that much with action groups despite having several thousand hours in KSP.

I think I'll simply stage all my drop pipes and such on an action. The Soyuz pad, though, seems to have an issue itself. I put the gantry elevator and the fuel pipe both under the action group 1, but when I hit it it only seems to activate the fuel pipe. The pad seems to think the gantry moved, but it doesn't actually do so. If I hit the button a second time both things snap to fully extended then the animations actually start to work. Odd.

[AlphaMensae]

6 minutes ago, captainradish said:

OK, so I'm not off my rocker. Interestingly, I just discovered that everything not attached to your vehicle will NOT work when assigned to the "stage" action (at least in my game). I assigned all my drop pipes to "stage" and accidentally staged the pad too far up the list (I think it was stage 3 on a 5 stage vehicle). When I hit space to launch, the drop pipes worked like they were supposed to but the vehicle remained attached to the pad due to the aforementioned mistake. When I corrected the staging problem, the vehicle launched like it was supposed to but the drop pipes did not drop. I highly suspect this is simply a problem with the "stage" action. I've actually never really played all that much with action groups despite having several thousand hours in KSP.

I think I'll simply stage all my drop pipes and such on an action. The Soyuz pad, though, seems to have an issue itself. I put the gantry elevator and the fuel pipe both under the action group 1, but when I hit it it only seems to activate the fuel pipe. The pad seems to think the gantry moved, but it doesn't actually do so. If I hit the button a second time both things snap to fully extended then the animations actually start to work. Odd.

All umbilicals will have to be staged separately or done manually, as the towers are separate parts and not part of a base.

The exception is the Soyuz Launch Base, which has everything integrated. But only the clamp arms are part of the launch clamp animation, everything else is a separate animation and has to be done manually. 

[captainradish]

4 minutes ago, AlphaMensae said:

All umbilicals will have to be staged separately or done manually, as the towers are separate parts and not part of a base.

The exception is the Soyuz Launch Base, which has everything integrated. But only the clamp arms are part of the launch clamp animation, everything else is a separate animation and has to be done manually. 

It just strikes me as amusing as the game apparently doesn't bother doing the "stage" group unless whatever it is that's being staged stays attached to the ship. That limits its usefulness a bit. The best use of it (and what I originally thought it did) would be to allow a non-stageable part to be manually staged.

Edited August 13, 2019 by captainradish

[AlphaMensae]

7 minutes ago, captainradish said:

It just strikes me as amusing as the game apparently doesn't bother doing the "stage" group unless whatever it is that's being staged stays attached to the ship. That limits its usefulness a bit. The best use of it (and what I originally thought it did) would be to allow a non-stageable part to be manually staged.

Yep, once you stage the clamp base, it and anything else attached to it becomes a separate part. So you have to put all animating-at-liftoff things (hold-downs, umbilicals, etc) with the base in the same stage. Or use one big action group where you put all that stuff in it.

[captainradish]

1 minute ago, AlphaMensae said:

Yep, once you stage the clamp base, it and anything else attached to it becomes a separate part. So you have to put all animating-at-liftoff things (hold-downs, umbilicals, etc) with the base in the same stage. Or use one big action group where you put all that stuff in it.

So it's possible to stage the launch towers and such? I only have the option of staging the base itself. Everything else I have to assign to a group.

[AlphaMensae]

1 hour ago, captainradish said:

So it's possible to stage the launch towers and such? I only have the option of staging the base itself. Everything else I have to assign to a group.

The towers themselves are static objects. 

It's the swing arms and drop pipes that are attached to them that can be staged.

[AlphaMensae]

Version 2.0.3 is out!

Changelog:

• Revised General Crew Arm to only have one retract animation, the direction is now changed by a B9PartSwitch changer. This fixes the arm appearing in the half-retracted position after loading or launching from the VAB.
• Added more craft files for Bluedog Design Bureau, Tantares and Tundra Exploration, plus a stock craft with the Large Launch Stand.

 

I apologize to who found that that general crew arm was appearing in the half-retracted position after loading or launching, as I discovered it for myself. So I fixed it by just having a single arm retract animation, with the direction now chosen by a B9PS option. I simply duplicated the whole arm hierarchy in Unity, gave it a different name, and have a B9PS module switch between them. One arm now retracts one way, the other arm goes the opposite way in the same animation (but the other arm is disabled so you don't see it).

Since I had to duplicate the arm, I removed the three longest arm length variants to keep the .mu file size from becoming too big; it's just about 1 MB larger in size than the old arm.

I also added more craft files from the ones I've been using for the launch clips that will be in the new v2 trailer. There is also a stock craft (very simple one) with the Large Launch Stand).  Some of the rockets in the craft files are incomplete, mostly just no payload, but the N1 is not actually usable, as I just stuck a LOK on top and covered it up with a not-exactly-correct fairing (it was just for a demo launch, not to go to orbit  ).

Edited August 14, 2019 by AlphaMensae

[AlphaMensae]

Next unedited clip for the new v2 trailer/demo: Saturn IB on the Large Launch Stand with the Apollo 7 audio, using the General Crew Elevator and Crew Arm (the elevator tower has attach nodes for umbilicals). This is the rescaled BDB Saturn IB, using the rescale patch in the BDB extras, except the nodes don't get moved (the rescale Saturn V is fine), so had to manually move things into proper position.

 

[AlphaMensae]

I've come to to realize that there does need to be a small General Crew Elevator and Crew Arm, something more appropriate for smaller, shorter rockets.  So I'm going to make them.   They will be separate parts (don't want to screw around with the existing elevator and arm), with the current General Crew Elevator and Arm becoming the Large versions. The small crew arm will be able to be used with the large elevator tower. The small tower will be able to be used with the tier 2 launch pad, with the elevator pad height being limited to under 36m (the now-Large Elevator's pad has a 120m setting, so it can't be used with the tier 2 pad, even if the actual tower that's built is less than 36m) so it will be a more traditional alternative to the Gemini-type elevator.

I'm also going to split the General Launch Base back into the three separate sizes. I originally merged them in a fit of part-reduction frenzy, but it now violates my personal rule for variants, that being they should be of a similar basic type rather than different types. The three General Launch Base sizes are different from one another visually, and that isn't clear when they are all merged into one part. It's why I didn't merge the Atlas V and Delta II towers into one, and made the General Hold-Downs all separate.  Having the three General Launch Base types also means I can customize each one much easier.

I might even split the General Launch Plate into two or three separate sub-types too, as this also will make adding larger sizes much easier.

I won't wait until v2.1 for these changes, they will come sooner than that, as the small crew elevator and arm won't take long to make, and the bases and plates splitting is just involves Unity changes.

 

And.......the first of the "big 3" manned segments that will form the final act of the new trailer/demo: the Saturn IB launch from the Mobile Launcher with the Milkstool, unedited. Audio is from the Skylab 2 launch (no more Jack King......)

 

 

[AlphaMensae]

Version 2.0.4 is out!

Changelog:

• Fixed missing FX for the General ROFI; forgot to update the paths to the FX for the v2 release.
• Added some more BDB craft files and a subassembly for the Medium General Launch Base configured for a Delta-IV-Heavy-type rocket, with extra swing arms.

I just discovered that while I had updated the Shuttle TSM's FX paths to the v2 release version, I didn't do the same for the General ROFIs, which left them with no FX...whoops!  So a quick .cfg edit solved that, and a new version is out.

[AlphaMensae]

Modular Launch Pads Version 2:

Ignition Sequence Start

 

The new trailer/demo/short for version 2 of Modular Launch Pads is done; will be on the OP also.

Mod rockets shown:

Bluedog Design Bureau: Vanguard, Athena II, Gemini-Titan II GLV, Titan III, Delta II, Atlas V, Apollo-Saturn IB, Apollo-Saturn V.

Tantares and TantaresLV: R-7 "Sputnik", N1, Soyuz.

Tundra Exploration: Falcon 1, Falcon Heavy

reDIRECT: SLS Block I Crew

Shuttle Orbiter Construction Kit: Space Shuttle

ReStock: Generic 2.5m lifter, Delta IV Heavy

Edited August 19, 2019 by AlphaMensae

[KerbalKore]

My internet is slow but I can’t wait to watch it once I get an actual connection!

[RealKerbal3x]

@AlphaMensae Fantastic video!

Oh, and this, RealPlume, and KSC Extended make for just about the most immersive launches you can get

[Mixshott]

Absolutely a must have for those interested in history, thanks for all the work

[T4T001N3]

Great mod! Will it be possible to add a missile silo sometime?

[AlphaMensae]

7 hours ago, T4T001N3 said:

Great mod! Will it be possible to add a missile silo sometime?

Not possible to make an underground silo without some serious Kerbal Konstructs terrain reshaping, and even that may not be possible.

[AlphaMensae]

I've added a new Mini Fallback Tower to the Github:

[AlphaMensae]

Another pic, using the new Shangsheng Orbital rocket:

The default color for the mini one is black   The light gray/white option is also available

It still has the manual 2-step fallback action and staged 1-step retraction. 

Seven height options, and the same three clamp sizes as the Small version

Only one umbilical, which moves with the clamp over a 1.7m vertical range. The umbilical can be moved in and out though.

 

Ok, I've decided that the new mini strongback, small crew elevator+arm, split up general base and plate, and whatever other small changes/additions (like maybe the general tower as well) I do will be version 2.1, saving the Saturn-Shuttle rework for v2.2. These additions and changes are too much for a mere "3rd digit" point update, which I usually reserve for bug fixes and tweaks.

The new stuff and other changes will be on the Github (master, not AlphaDev) until there's enough to do the v2.1 release.

Edited August 22, 2019 by AlphaMensae

[Thomas Edison]

Any chance we might could get a group of parts just dedicated to the ULA rockets like Delta and stuff? Like the large rolling tower? Kinda like a group dedicated to Kartoffelkuchens pack?

[AlphaMensae]

4 hours ago, Thomas Edison said:

Any chance we might could get a group of parts just dedicated to the ULA rockets like Delta and stuff? Like the large rolling tower? Kinda like a group dedicated to Kartoffelkuchens pack?

Things like that, which are more like large buildings, are better suited as Kerbal Konstructs statics.

Perhaps they will be added to KSC Extended.

[Cheesecake]

I had an issue with rotating the Shuttle- and Saturn-Pad. While I can rotate the pad itself in VAB the legs stay at the same position and don`t rotate. So two of the legs are not under the pad.

[AlphaMensae]

10 hours ago, Cheesecake said:

I had an issue with rotating the Shuttle- and Saturn-Pad. While I can rotate the pad itself in VAB the legs stay at the same position and don`t rotate. So two of the legs are not under the pad.

The launch clamp versions won't rotate properly since they are not symmetrical, and the legs are a transform that's fixed in place.

The original free-standing versions are in the Extras folder in the download zip; copy the .mu and .cfg files (or just one set) into the ModularLaunchPads/Saturn_Shuttle folder.

[x170doom]

found a bug of some sort with the RN-R7, when spawned on the pad with the gantry arms up it starts to jiggle about

[AlphaMensae]

5 hours ago, x170doom said:

found a bug of some sort with the RN-R7, when spawned on the pad with the gantry arms up it starts to jiggle about

I noticed some jiggles as well using the tier 2 launch pad. Lots of autostrutting helps a lot, and if you wait, the jiggling will stop.