flying saucers [Min KSP 1.12.2] Kerbal Flying Saucers - Build Flying Saucers in KSP!

[shdwlrd]

On 7/7/2018 at 10:30 PM, vardicd said:

Okay, I copied one of the KFS MM patches that was already in the KFS mod, changed the name and copy/pasted the code bits you posted, and we'll see if it works.

Did this fix your symmetry issues?

[vardicd]

50 minutes ago, shdwlrd said:

Did this fix your symmetry issues?

I've actually been so busy the last couple of days trying to track down an unknown science experiment for angel-125, from Angel's mods that KEI was reporting and offering to run at KSC, to see if KEI needed patched to block that experiment... I forgot to check that, actually.

[vardicd]

7 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

I can't seem to find that experiment anywhere. I should probably just remove WBIBiomeMultiExperiment from the crew cab...

All right, if you're just going to remove the experiment entirely, I'm not going to ask for help in the KEI thread, and i'll just remove the experiment from my local mod part so the science isn't available to me or KEI and call the issue resolved.

[Mekan1k]

Okay, so, I hate to be the one to ask this, but can someone post a working version of the saucer using the magical componets? Not the lift fan or aerospike engine, but the other parts. I have been trying, and have been unable to get it off the ground because I have no idea how to get the Gravitic Engine or Gravitic Generator to work. It *could* be a mod conflict I have discovered, but I think it's more likely that I have just not been able to get the thing to fly. 

[JadeOfMaar]

@Mekan1k You need these things in order to get going:

• The A51 gravitic engine;
• Some Gravimetric Displacement Generators (UFO slices) to generate GravityWaves to feed the gravitic engine;
• A supply of Graviolium (the WBI refinery empties your tanks on launch and you need to buy it back (I hope you have some stored up, otherwise you need to cheat it in));
• Some Plasma Contactors to deal with the Static Charge buildup.

[vardicd]

1 hour ago, Mekan1k said:

Okay, so, I hate to be the one to ask this, but can someone post a working version of the saucer using the magical componets? Not the lift fan or aerospike engine, but the other parts. I have been trying, and have been unable to get it off the ground because I have no idea how to get the Gravitic Engine or Gravitic Generator to work. It *could* be a mod conflict I have discovered, but I think it's more likely that I have just not been able to get the thing to fly. 

 

22 minutes ago, JadeOfMaar said:

@Mekan1k You need these things in order to get going:

• The A51 gravitic engine;
• Some Gravimetric Displacement Generators (UFO slices) to generate GravityWaves to feed the gravitic engine;
• A supply of Graviolium (the WBI refinery empties your tanks on launch and you need to buy it back (I hope you have some stored up, otherwise you need to cheat it in));
• Some Plasma Contactors to deal with the Static Charge buildup.

Also if you go into the Kerbalspaceprogram/gamedata/Wilbblueindustries/flyingsaucers/ships/SPH folder there is a list of prebuilt saucers, including one with the gravity drive and components, drag those craft files into your Kerbalspaceprogram/saves/{whateveryoursavegamenameis}/ships/SPH folder and you'll have access to the prebuilt craft in your save to play around with and learn from. I have found I've had to add about 100 to 150 units of lead to the cockpit of each of the pre-built craft to get the center of mass and the center of lift into the right places so the craft aren't unstable in flight, but as long as you do that before launch, you should find these pre-built craft nice for learning about the different configureations you can come up with.

[JadeOfMaar]

Oh really? Sample craft. I'd never notice those. :p 

[shdwlrd]

13 minutes ago, JadeOfMaar said:

Oh really? Sample craft. I'd never notice those. :p 

I second that. 

[Angelo Kerman]

Aw man, I even put the path to the sample craft files on the promotional images...

I too have been pretty busy for a couple of weeks now. Adjusting to the new job and the summer heat has been wearing me down, and my desktop PC took a dive. Fortunately I've got backups of all my files and can continue working on the mothership on my laptop. I've also been taking a break to explore new shapes for my Heisenberg mod's Bison command cab, but I expect to at least lay out the decks for the mothership over the weekend. After that, I'll start taking the template meshes and filling in some details before coming up with the look of the Excalibur's texture patterns. With my free time now limited again, I'm aiming for end of summer to have the Excalibur done. It's unfortunate that it'll take so long, but quality artwork takes time, and it's not like I'm making some bland fuel tank.

@Mekan1k When you attach the parts, you should also get some tool tip windows that pop up and give you hints. Also, check the original posts's promo images. Also, I added tutorial videos to the OP some time ago...

 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Angel-125

[adsii1970]

@Angel-125: Thanks for these video tutorials! Will make upgrading to 1.4.4 even more fun!

 

[Angelo Kerman]

14 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

@Angel-125: Thanks for these video tutorials! Will make upgrading to 1.4.4 even more fun!

 

Thanks! One more video should also be of interest:

I did end up making "forward" relative to the vessel control point. @Mekan1k Watch the first part of this video, it talks a bit about Graviolium.

 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Angel-125

[JadeOfMaar]

35 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

@Angel-125: Thanks for these video tutorials! Will make upgrading to 1.4.4 even more fun!

Skip 1.4.4. You're not missing anything at all. At this point I think Kopernicus is actually doing this.

48 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

Aw man, I even put the path to the sample craft files on the promotional images...

*crickets chirping*

...Crap

[adsii1970]

1 hour ago, JadeOfMaar said:

Skip 1.4.4. You're not missing anything at all. At this point I think Kopernicus is actually doing this.

Um, okay... so should i just remain at 1.3.0?

[shdwlrd]

2 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Aw man, I even put the path to the sample craft files on the promotional images...

 

Proves your point that people won't read things unless they really need or want to.

Edited July 13, 2018 by shdwlrd
Stupid phone...

[Angelo Kerman]

4 hours ago, shdwlrd said:

Proves your point that people won't read things unless they really need or want to.

That’s why I stopped wasting my time on help files or KSPedia or wiki pages. People don’t read them and then bitterly complain when they can’t figure out how to do stuff. At most I have part tool tips that people don’t read, part descriptions that are ignored, and tutorial videos that aren’t watched. That’s not just sarcasm, it’s years of experience.

Edited July 13, 2018 by Angel-125

[Norcalplanner]

25 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

That’s why I stopped wasting my time on help files or KSPedia or wiki pages. People don’t read them and then bitterly complain when they can’t figure out how to do stuff. At most I have part tool tips that people don’t read, part descriptions that are ignored, and tutorial videos that aren’t watched. That’s not just sarcasm, it’s years of experience.

For what it's worth, I've read just about everything you've created having to do with BARIS, MOLE, and Pathfinder, and found them very helpful. While I acknowledge that I may be an outlier, please know that the time you spent on documentation was not all in vain. 

The mission report for my new GEP / WBI career should go live this weekend.

[shdwlrd]

1 hour ago, Angel-125 said:

That’s why I stopped wasting my time on help files or KSPedia or wiki pages. People don’t read them and then bitterly complain when they can’t figure out how to do stuff. At most I have part tool tips that people don’t read, part descriptions that are ignored, and tutorial videos that aren’t watched. That’s not just sarcasm, it’s years of experience.

It's just the way games are nowadays. A lot of hand holding to make the player comfortable playing the game. (It's gets annoying at times.) KSP isn't one of those games, and neither are the mods. I don't know how many times I've read a question and thought "if you just read the _____' you would know how to do it." 

I read the wikis and read mes if needed. The popups help, but get annoying quick because of the multi popup bug. Don't like the kspedia pages though, something about them irks me. (Its not yours specifically, it's the whole thing in general.) Part descriptions when it isn't obvious what the part does, when it is a converter or buildable part. If I can't find the answer, then I ask the question.

Your efforts aren't wasted, it's just the way games and people are nowadays.

[Angelo Kerman]

I added a link to the OP pointing to the repo's sample craft folder. That way nobody will read it and whine about not having any sample craft to play with.

[Mekan1k]

On ‎7‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 8:46 PM, JadeOfMaar said:

@Mekan1k You need these things in order to get going:

• The A51 gravitic engine;
• Some Gravimetric Displacement Generators (UFO slices) to generate GravityWaves to feed the gravitic engine;
• A supply of Graviolium (the WBI refinery empties your tanks on launch and you need to buy it back (I hope you have some stored up, otherwise you need to cheat it in));
• Some Plasma Contactors to deal with the Static Charge buildup.

Thanks! Now all I want to know is WHY does the WBI refinery empty my tanks of graviolium? Since these are included in the SPH or VAB, shouldn't the tank filling be done inside the buildings before taxiing out to the runway?

[JadeOfMaar]

57 minutes ago, Mekan1k said:

Thanks! Now all I want to know is WHY does the WBI refinery empty my tanks of graviolium? Since these are included in the SPH or VAB, shouldn't the tank filling be done inside the buildings before taxiing out to the runway?

You're allowed to use Graviolium in the SPH to measure mass difference and dV. But for gameplay reasons you absolutely have to find it, mine it, and bring it back. It's one of those resources that are near-impossible to synthesize and is therefore very expensive. Once you have it stored in the KSC (like depositing money) you can withdraw it and fill up at launch. Having it freely available will break gameplay things like career funding and sandbox adventure.

Edited July 14, 2018 by JadeOfMaar

[Angelo Kerman]

I got to do some more things with KFS today. I've added action groups to the gravitic engine to shift between forward, reverse, and VTOL thrust. You can also toggle Crazy Mode (forward only) on and off with an action group. Plus, I did a study on the Excalibur's deck layout:

I had to adjust the shape a bit to fit the storage unit but it's all good now.

Edited July 14, 2018 by Angel-125

[Angelo Kerman]

19 hours ago, Mekan1k said:

Thanks! Now all I want to know is WHY does the WBI refinery empty my tanks of graviolium? Since these are included in the SPH or VAB, shouldn't the tank filling be done inside the buildings before taxiing out to the runway?

Kerbal Flying Saucers adds some really powerful technologies to the game that would make space flight trivial without something to limit them. Making Graviolium something you have to obtain post launch is one of the limiters. You can produce Graviolium in the refinery, but the process is slow and expensive. Think of it like the real world iridium. Only 3 metric tons are produced per year according to Wikipedia...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium

You can also collect Graviolium in orbit by using the Stardust collector. That will definitely take time, and is slower than the refinery.

The main source of Graviolium is from asteroids. Some planets might be lucky enough to have small amounts of the resource as well. And if you have Pathfinder installed, prospecting might locate Graviolium as well.

Edited July 15, 2018 by Angel-125

[shdwlrd]

3 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

You can also collect Graviolium in orbit by using the Stardust collector. That will definitely take time, and is slower than the refinery.

That's why I made this array to speed it up some. It collects about 1 unit of Graviolium per Kerbin day, I may add to it at some point. Still the easiest solution to the Graviolium collection problem. 

[Angelo Kerman]

Getting closer to the general layout:

Inspration:

Edited July 16, 2018 by Angel-125

[vardicd]

On ‎7‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 5:11 PM, Angel-125 said:

That’s why I stopped wasting my time on help files or KSPedia or wiki pages. People don’t read them and then bitterly complain when they can’t figure out how to do stuff. At most I have part tool tips that people don’t read, part descriptions that are ignored, and tutorial videos that aren’t watched. That’s not just sarcasm, it’s years of experience.

I will admit to previously being guilty of not reading the in game KSPedia for help, I honestly had forgotten that it was there. No I look there first, then troll as much of a thread as I can for hints that my issue/problem/question has been asked before, and then I ask for help, and then occasionally think of something else, like scouring the github releases for clues. think I did that to linuxgurugamer the other night. literally as I hit the submit button on my post, which had him tagged in it, I thought, oh, wonder if there's any clues in previous github release notes to how this works/changed. solved my own problem in 40 seconds. and quickly deleted my post, hopefully before he saw it and got annoyed for no reason.