[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]

Last new parts for v2.2:

General Fallback Umbilical Tower, a generalized and square-truss version of the Thor/Delta Fallback tower.  It was basically a kitbash, as I used the Small General Service Tower for the tower and the slim mount from the General Strongback Towers (new title to avoid confusion, as they have the upper clamp, and this tower is just umbilicals), plus the new Medium Droop Umbilical with special meshes so it could be in three different colors at once. Height goes from 15m to 35m in 5m increments.

Standalone launch clamp version of the existing Saturn Milkstool, with both the regular (Tall) height and a short variant for That Which Will Not Be Named  

 

Now to go through all the part .cfgs and update them with the new StagedAnimation and ModuleAnimateGenericExtra modules, then update some craft files.

[610yesnolovely]

On 5/31/2021 at 12:13 PM, Giancarlo Kerman said:

Ahhh thanks for reminding me Alpha, I didnt really understand the note at first on the first page

 

just want to say that this mod is amazing!

It is indeed an amazing mod, looking forward to the update. I'm new to it, but it's fun to make realistic launches. I've also added: 

I also had some difficult setting up the rail launchers - I'm somewhat new to building launch pads. The technique seems to be (from video and learning):

• Place a launch base (small milkstool red one seems nice). This will be the temporary root part.
• Add a launch rail (I used smallest)
• Rotate the above to the direction you want to go, with launch rail below (or above, which I think is more often the case and perhaps the design here?).
• Surface attach a rocket booster onto the actual rail, it should line up if the rail is angled.
• Move the rocket booster away from the rail using the offset tool, so it doesn't touch and attach all the other pieces. Nothing should touch the rail.
• Select the rocket probe core as root. This will make the rocket point up again, so everything else will be rotated wrong.
• Rotate the rocket probe core back to the right angle so the rest of the launch base is level again. (I use Precise Editor to help here).
• Check the staging - the base and rail decoupler should be first with the first stage engine in Stage 0.

Things I noticed:

• There were two "Decouple" showing at the bottom of the smallest launch rail. Not sure what's decoupling? Rocket from the rail?
• The rail offset didn't seem to work for me - you can't move it way from the little spike as shown in the video. I'm not using the Animated Attachment mod though.

It'd be cool if there was an actual small lug that you attach to the rail and provides an attach node for rockets much like stack decouplers, however the lug can move along the rail and remains attached to the rocket which will slide along and then pop off the end. I'm betting that's not possible in KSP though. :-/

Edited June 10, 2021 by 610yesnolovely

[Zelda]

21 hours ago, AlphaMensae said:

Now to go through all the part .cfgs and update them with the new StagedAnimation and ModuleAnimateGenericExtra modules, then update some craft files.

New parts are looking amazing! I consider this mod a must-have for my play-throughs, thank you for all the work you've put into it. 

Question on the new modules - will the new ModuleAnimateGenericExtra modules fully replace ModuleAnimateGeneric? I have some kOS scripts that interact with ModuleAnimateGeneric today for things like dropping umbilicals, retracting swing arms, etc, so I'll need to update those when this drops if that's the case. Thanks!

[AlphaMensae]

21 hours ago, 610yesnolovely said:

It is indeed an amazing mod, looking forward to the update. I'm new to it, but it's fun to make realistic launches. I've also added: 

I also had some difficult setting up the rail launchers - I'm somewhat new to building launch pads. The technique seems to be (from video and learning):

• Place a launch base (small milkstool red one seems nice). This will be the temporary root part.
• Add a launch rail (I used smallest)
• Rotate the above to the direction you want to go, with launch rail below (or above, which I think is more often the case and perhaps the design here?).
• Surface attach a rocket booster onto the actual rail, it should line up if the rail is angled.
• Move the rocket booster away from the rail using the offset tool, so it doesn't touch and attach all the other pieces. Nothing should touch the rail.
• Select the rocket probe core as root. This will make the rocket point up again, so everything else will be rotated wrong.
• Rotate the rocket probe core back to the right angle so the rest of the launch base is level again. (I use Precise Editor to help here).
• Check the staging - the base and rail decoupler should be first with the first stage engine in Stage 0.

Things I noticed:

• There were two "Decouple" showing at the bottom of the smallest launch rail. Not sure what's decoupling? Rocket from the rail?
• The rail offset didn't seem to work for me - you can't move it way from the little spike as shown in the video. I'm not using the Animated Attachment mod though.

It'd be cool if there was an actual small lug that you attach to the rail and provides an attach node for rockets much like stack decouplers, however the lug can move along the rail and remains attached to the rocket which will slide along and then pop off the end. I'm betting that's not possible in KSP though. :-/

Yep, the rail needs to be below the rocket; having it above lets gravity pull the roocket away. I have an idea for actual launch lugs, but it will be a while before I start doing tests.

There's two kinds of mini milkstools: the launch clamp ones and the snap-on decoupler versions; the decoupler ones will have a decoupler icon. Neither should be in stage 0 or any launch stage, since the rail is the one that's decoupling; best to disable staging on the bases.

Otherwise you have got it down right. The root part has to be on the rocket for the rail to decouple since I sorta cheated by using the regular stack decouple module but with the surface attach node as the decouple one. So it's a stack decoupler being used as a surface (or radial) attached part, which is why I think it doesn't work if the root part is "below" the decoupler

1 hour ago, Zelda said:

New parts are looking amazing! I consider this mod a must-have for my play-throughs, thank you for all the work you've put into it. 

Question on the new modules - will the new ModuleAnimateGenericExtra modules fully replace ModuleAnimateGeneric? I have some kOS scripts that interact with ModuleAnimateGeneric today for things like dropping umbilicals, retracting swing arms, etc, so I'll need to update those when this drops if that's the case. Thanks!

Yeah, I will replace all ModuleAnimateGeneric instances with the new one  to keep everything consistent. 

[AlphaMensae]

Ok, the .cfg update is taking longer than expected, due to distractions and the fact that it's tedious   Also, along the way I realized something: with the B9PS UI groups and ModuleAnimateGeneric Extra, I could bring back the optional integrated hold-down support pads into the General Launch Bases (not the Flat ones or anything else), and have them make sense and be comprehensible. So I whipped up a basic pad block in 3 widths and added it into the Small Base, with B9PS handling all the configurations, and labeled deploy limit sliders that say exactly what they do. Now on the Medium Base, with the Large one to follow (just copy-paste with some adjustment of the values).

[JB182]

Hello @AlphaMensae, i have a problem. I moved the ModularLaunchPads, Animated Decouplers, B9PartSwitch, and CommunityCategoryKit into the KSP Gamedata folder, but i see nothing in the construction tab thingy, its just blank:

Please help.

[AlphaMensae]

2 hours ago, JB182 said:

Hello @AlphaMensae, i have a problem. I moved the ModularLaunchPads, Animated Decouplers, B9PartSwitch, and CommunityCategoryKit into the KSP Gamedata folder, but i see nothing in the construction tab thingy, its just blank:

Please help.

I don't think you installed it right, as there is a custom icon for both the CCK and the stock custom category, and it's not there.

[AlphaMensae]

Seeing NathanKell use the RO-rescaled Large General Crew Elevator, I realized that it isn't very "large", and certainly too skinny for the 130m elevator height variant. So I decided to expand the 130m variant into the Extra Large General Crew Elevator:

It uses the Large Elevator section's basic frame as the core (it's still in the same position), and I added additional sections to the sides and behind, making a Titan III-type rectangular tower. There's lots of attach nodes for umbilicals on the four rails, plus three moving ones on the center rail when the Tower Core variant is selected. There is also 6 top attach nodes on the base and section parts, for attaching the Large Elevator sections to make alternate shapes. Speaking of which, there is no Saturn-style truss with the XL elevator, and I changed the General-style truss, so I'm going to change the Large Elevator's General truss style to match, and make the Saturn one taller (both 2.5m full height).

There's only the Base and Section (which comes in 5m height variants up to 25m) parts, the top from the Large Elevator can be used. Also the Large Elevator's Side Extension will work too.

[JB182]

21 hours ago, AlphaMensae said:

I don't think you installed it right, as there is a custom icon for both the CCK and the stock custom category, and it's not there.

btu i read the Readme.txt and it says to put all things in the mod Gamedata folder into the KSP Gamedata folder

Edited June 23, 2021 by JB182

[OrbitalManeuvers]

50 minutes ago, JB182 said:

btu i read the Readme.txt and it says to put all things in the mod Gamedata folder into the KSP Gamedata folder

Why aren't you just showing your install so we can help you?

[Jcking]

59 minutes ago, JB182 said:

btu i read the Readme.txt and it says to put all things in the mod Gamedata folder into the KSP Gamedata folder

Did you drag the mod's Gamedata folder into KSP's Gamedata, or did you drag the contents of the Gamedata folder into KSP's Gamedata?

[JB182]

12 hours ago, Jcking said:

Did you drag the mod's Gamedata folder into KSP's Gamedata, or did you drag the contents of the Gamedata folder into KSP's Gamedata?

i drag the content of the mods gamedata to the ksp's

12 hours ago, OrbitalManeuvers said:

Why aren't you just showing your install so we can help you?

this is the image:

i only have aviator arsenal mod and the modular lp but it wont work, even when i deleted the aviator arsenal mod.

[ignore all gamedatas i have]

Edited June 24, 2021 by JB182
ignore the gamedatas

[OrbitalManeuvers]

5 minutes ago, JB182 said:

this is the image:

Perfect! Lots of people around here can help you get out of this. Here's what I see - it looks like you have a few GameData folders nested inside each other? If you find the KSP_x64.exe file, there should be a GameData folder there within the same parent. Inside of that GameData folder, you should have no other folders named GameData. Instead, that's where folders like ModularLaunchPads and B9PartSwitch go. So here's a full sample path from my computer: f:\ksp-1-11-2-bdb\gamedata\modularlaunchpads

[JB182]

Just now, OrbitalManeuvers said:

Perfect! Lots of people around here can help you get out of this. Here's what I see - it looks like you have a few GameData folders nested inside each other? If you find the KSP_x64.exe file, there should be a GameData folder there within the same parent. Inside of that GameData folder, you should have no other folders named GameData. Instead, that's where folders like ModularLaunchPads and B9PartSwitch go. So here's a full sample path from my computer: f:\ksp-1-11-2-bdb\gamedata\modularlaunchpads

ok, that gamedata is from my old mod that i deleted.

3 minutes ago, OrbitalManeuvers said:

Perfect! Lots of people around here can help you get out of this. Here's what I see - it looks like you have a few GameData folders nested inside each other? If you find the KSP_x64.exe file, there should be a GameData folder there within the same parent. Inside of that GameData folder, you should have no other folders named GameData. Instead, that's where folders like ModularLaunchPads and B9PartSwitch go. So here's a full sample path from my computer: f:\ksp-1-11-2-bdb\gamedata\modularlaunchpads

i have cleaned it, i have 3 gamedatas now (before is 4).

[AlphaMensae]

18 minutes ago, JB182 said:

ok, that gamedata is from my old mod that i deleted.

i have cleaned it, i have 3 gamedatas now (before is 4).

There should only be one GameData folder. You have more than one, that's why it is not working.

[JB182]

ah ok

[AlphaMensae]

v2.2 .cfg editing is coming along, sometimes a bit slowly. Some of the changes are just to the .cfg file, like redoing or even adding B9PS UI Groups, or adding extra attach nodes for umbilicals to the Large General Service Tower and Crew Elevator. Some changes though have been to the parts themselves. The Mercury-Redstone Crew Elevator now has longer mount rails (can be switched to the shorter ones) and a deploy limit slider for the rollback distance. The Redstone Launch Stand's integrated umbilical pole can now be rotated among 8 different spots on the ring, and the horizontal adjustment is now done with a deploy limit slider.

I have also given thought to the fuure development of MLP. I think this will be the last v2 update. The planned Saturn and Shuttle parts revamp is going to be extensive, and I also want to do another pass on the General Parts. There very well may be changes that result in some parts being dropped (e.g. the General Modular Service Towers could end up going the single-part stacking design of the Mini Modular Towers). It's enough to warrant a version 3 of MLP, and so that's what I'm going to do. It will take quite a while to develop v3, so once I actually start work on it, the AlphaDev branch will return to the GitHub like for v2 development.

Edited July 1, 2021 by AlphaMensae

[AlphaMensae]

Oh, I did a quick test with KSP v1.12.1, and MLP and all dependencies work perfectly normal as is. Nothing needs updating.  

[AlphaMensae]

I've finished the General Base and Launch Stand parts for v2.2, and have moved on to the Saturn-Shuttle parts. This is going to be a combo of putting in some missing features and some preliminary v3 features. One of the missing things was moving the tower and accessory attach  nodes for the Saturn (Saturn V TSM nodes) and Shuttle (SRB holder nodes) launcher bases when they were rotated using B9PS, so now the tower will move with the base (of course, it itself isn't rotated  ). The shuttle SRB holder node moving is temporary, as the holders will be integrated into the shuttle base, with multiple adjustment sliders, in v3.

Early v3 work is separating the Saturn V swing arms back into individual parts. Over time I realized it was too much consolidation, and since all 8 arms were combined into one part, you couldn't tell which variant it was in the staging stack. Now they will be separate again, but using the advanced B9PS features the other MLP parts have to reduce duplicate meshes as much as possible without a full remake that will happen for v3.

The Saturn Tower General Swing arm is also going to get a long-planned switch in mechanics, going to a telescoping adjustable arm like the General Swing Arms have, eliminating a lot of duplicate meshes (the Saturn pad parts are really old now  ).

[NathanKell]

On 6/10/2021 at 4:03 PM, Zelda said:

New parts are looking amazing! I consider this mod a must-have for my play-throughs, thank you for all the work you've put into it. 

Question on the new modules - will the new ModuleAnimateGenericExtra modules fully replace ModuleAnimateGeneric? I have some kOS scripts that interact with ModuleAnimateGeneric today for things like dropping umbilicals, retracting swing arms, etc, so I'll need to update those when this drops if that's the case. Thanks!

The new module inherits from the old so you may not have to change anything?

[AlphaMensae]

The Saturn base and tower parts are now finished for v2.2. The Saturn V (and the one Saturn IB arm) swing arms are now all separate parts, each with a title that states what they are (e.g. #1 S-IC Intertank)....no more confusion!  It was a bit more work than expected, as some of the arms needed a short extension for the 5.625m and 3.75m (current BDB) sizes, so I had to kitbash them in Wings 3D. The end result is that the groundwork for v3 has been laid, with the arms consisting of a single main mesh, extension if needed and a single umbilical group that is moved with B9PS as needed. Each arm's .mu got cut down in size by a large amount.  

Also getting cut down in size by a huge amountis the Saturn Tower General Arm. It was a product of time when I didn't know any better, so it had duplicate meshes for every arm size. Now it's just one core mesh, one extension mesh (the sliding part), one umbilical group and one pipe group. The pipe styles are also now separately configured from the umbilicals.

[Zelda]

10 hours ago, NathanKell said:

The new module inherits from the old so you may not have to change anything?

Oh that's good. In order to reference modules in kOS, you need to call for one by name (or index, but that's a pain). If the name changes but everything else stays the same, that should be a simple update. 

[AlphaMensae]

All the dev work on v2.2 has been done (on Saturday actually), the changelog has been written, and now I'm redoing the craft files for v2.2. The ones for BDB, Cormorant and the stock examples are done, just need to do the ones for Tundra and Tantares. The most common issue is to readjust the general and Titan II GLV droop umblicals, but others required more work, like the Saturn swing arms. New files for the BDB Thor-Able TAT, Titan IIIE and the Saturn IB on the LC-34 style Launch Stand (now retitled the Saturn IB Launch Stand) have been added as well.

Also testing everything out, and found a few minor bugs, all the result of .cfg file typos, and all fixed.  I should have v2.2 ready for release on Monday.  

[AlphaMensae]

VERSION 2.2!

Version 2.2 is now released on Spacedock and the GitHub. I added subassembly-versions of many of the bare launch base/stand+tower combos used in the craft file, they are in the Subassemblies folder.

CHANGELOG:

• *    NEW: Animated Decouplers has been replaced by Staged Animation, graciously provided by NathanKell Staged Animation, It has the same animation staging function and decoupler icon, but no actual decoupler function. It also works with Mechjeb's auto-staging feature.
• *    NEW: All uses of the stock ModuleAnimateGeneric have been replaced with ModuleAnimateGenericExtra, contained within the StageAnimation .dll and also graciously provided by NathanKell. This version allows for custom titles of the deploy limit sliders used by many of the parts, and also can fully disable the animation toggle/start/end buttons. The PAWs for those parts are now far more understandable as a result.
• *    NEW: Titan III Launch Stand added to the historic launch stands group. It is designed to work with the existing Titan III Auxiliary Mast and Service Tower parts. Can be configured for both the Titan III and Titan IV, and has integrated hold-down bolts that are fully adjustable in position.
• *    NEW: General Fallback Umbilical Tower added to the General Service Towers group. It is a generalized, square-truss version of the Thor/Delta Fallback Tower, with many more height variants.
• *    NEW: Extra Large General Crew Elevator added to the General Crew Elevators group. It replaces the old 130m height version of the Large Crew Elevator Base, and is compatible with the Large Crew Elevator Section and Side Extension.
• *    NEW: Saturn Milkstool Launch Stand has been added. It is a standalone launch-clamp version of the Saturn Milkstool part, with a short height variant along with the default full-height version.
• *    REVISED: General Droop Umbilicals have been remade, with an additional size added. An adjustable-length mount extension tube has also been added to provide better custom-fitting to a rocket stage.
• *    REVISED: Large Crew Elevator has been revised with new General and Saturn truss styles; the General style is the same as that of the new Extra Large Elevator. The Elevator Tower Section also now has more switchable detail optons to allow it to be used with the Extra Large Elevator.
• *    REVISED: Color of the side panels for the Large and Extra Large Crew Elevator towers can now be separately switched.
• *    REVISED: More attach nodes for umbilicals and swing arms, including new side mount rails, have been added to the Large General Crew Elevator Section part.
• *    REVISED: Large Crew Arm now has an option for a bare hatch interface, with all three sides open and no angled hatch brace.
• *    REVISED: An additional height variant has been added to the Large, Medium and Small General Modular Service Towers. More attach nodes for umbilicals and swing arms have been added as well.
• *    REVISED: Integrated hold-down support pads have been added back into the Large, Medium and Small General Launch Bases. These have three width options, and are adjustable in position with newly custom-titled deploy limit sliders.
• *    REVISED: The Delta II single-piece service tower now has an adjustable-height structural detail group via deploy limit slider, so it can be positioned where desired.
• *    REVISED: The Atlas Launch Stand's center clamps are now toggleable like the side umbilicals, for use with the Atlas IIAS (the one with the Castor SRBs).
• *    REVISED: The Redstone Launch Stand's integrated umbilical pole can now be switched among 8 positions on the ring, and it's horizontal position is now adjusted with a deploy limit slider.
• *    REVISED: The Mercury-Redstone Crew Elevator now has a new long mount rail option, and the tower's rollback position can now be adjusted with a deploy limit slider.
• *    REVISED: The Titan II GLV Service Tower droop-style umbilical arms have been revised to match the style of the revised General one, and also include the adjustable extension tube. The Gemini version also has been changed to match.
• *    REVISED: The Saturn Launch Stand has been retitled the Saturn IB Launch Stand to make clear what it was designed after.
• *    REVISED: The old Saturn V combo swing arm part has been separated into individual arm parts, one for each Saturn V arm (8 total) and one for the Saturn IB's S-IB first stage. Internal revisions have made each arm much smaller in size than those in the old integrated part, and only one animation is now run when retracted.
• *    REVISED: The old Saturn Tower General Swing arm has been converted into a telescoping adjustable arm like that of the General Swing Arms, greatly reducing the complexity and .mu size as a result. The pipes can also now be independently switched among 15 variants.
• *    REVISED: The Saturn and Shuttle Launch Bases now have the attach nodes for towers and accessories move properly when the base is rotated with the B9PS switcher. The things attached to those nodes won't rotate, but they will be in the right position.
• *    REVISED: The Saturn Tower Hammerhead Crane now has an 180° rotation animation and a deploy limit slider to adjust the rotation amount.
• *    REVISED: The two crew access arms for the Shuttle FSS Tower have been retitled to "Shuttle Tower Crew Access Arm: Orbiter" and "Shuttle Tower Crew Access Arm: Rodan" to position them later in the part list.
• *    REVISED: Title changes for the Saturn Tower sections, Shuttle Tower sections and Shuttle Tower arms to better position them in the part list.
• *    REVISED: Nunmerous edits to to the part .cfg files to add/modify B9PS UI Groups and switchers, and to use StagedAnimation and ModuleAnimateGenericExtra where needed.
• *    REVISED: Edits to the Saturn and Shuttle custom subcategory names to "Saturn V Mobile Launcher" and "Space Shuttle Launch Platform".

Screenshots of some of the craft files included:

Spoiler

 

 

 

[OrbitalManeuvers]

Hello  Excited to try this. However, I tried both of the release zip files (dif names) and found the same issue with both: the bundled requirements have changed, but the MLP files themselves are still version 2.1.6? Have I borked something on my end?