KSR Airports for Kerbinside Remastered

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Kerbine Side Remastered:  AIRPORTS

(or KSR Airports)

 

 

Bringing my development over here since I think I've cluttered up @Eskandare 's thread enough.

 

Anyway...  KSR Airports will be adding additional 'bases' to stock Kerbin in the form of Airports.  Airports inspired by the design of actual airports.  I say inspired because I will not be mapping real airports.

 

Here is, more or less, the battleplan:

KSR Airports will contain no less than ten International Airports, twenty Regional Airports, and more than likely 40+ local airports. 

Each airport class is aimed at supporting aircraft of approximate scale while utilizing Kerbal Konstructs to provide services such as refueling, Instrument Landing System, and more.

 

Now, prepare to take a short, if slightly grainy, tour of KSR Airport's first airport to be made:  BADLANDS INTERNATIONAL.  Located, you guessed it, in Kerbin's badlands.

 

 

Beyond this, there are more features to be had with KSR Airports.  Features that aren't in KSP proper, but are given to you outside of the game.

Charts!

No, really...  Charts.  Because pretty airports are pretty, but making the most out of them comes with KNOWING them.

 

On top of creating the 'International Kerbal Aviation Organization' or IKAO letter code for geolocation, and providing a map of those areas, KSR Airports provides you with a simple-format chart that tells you the most critical points of each airport.  It's type, it's name, the IKAO code, it's location and altitude, runway characteristics, services provided at that airport, and hazards you may find in the area when trying to land.  EVERY airport made for this mod will be in this chart.  The chart will also contain Eskandare's bases and their characteristics, though some of those may be hidden.  The chart will be kept in XLS format.  So Open Office will be your friend if you aren't besties already.

 

Now for some images:

"The picture says it all."  That's the largest airport/spaceport entitty I've made to date.

 

"The location and direction of the spawns on the Spaceport."

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAQ:

"Is this mod compatible with old Kerbinsi-"

No.  Old Kerbinside's assets are locked behind less open licenses.  Thus, old kerbinside's bases and assets are not installed, and will in fact BREAK KSR Airports.

 

"What versions of KSP will this be compatible with."

KSR Airports will be compatible with versions of KSP by association of the dependency mods.  In this case, whatever Kerbinside Remastered will work with, KSR Airports will too.  And KSR Airports is dependent on Kerbal Konstructs.   Your only concern is to keep an eye out for a potential version mismatch with KSR itself.  The initial release of KSR has a known issue with some of the specifics of the static models that may be fixed in a new version.  These issues are not ones that affect gameplay in themselves, but will cause a problem with the placement of statics in the airports.  If/when the statics models get fixed, I'll have to ensure the next version of KSR airports has the statics' positions adjusted to compensate.

 

"Does this mod have Dependencies?"

This mod requires Kerbal Konstructs and Kerbinside Remastered to function.

 

"Will this work with RSS or other Kerbin rescales?"

Short answer: No. 

Long answer:  The way the placement system for statics works, imagine Kerbin as a deflated balloon.  Now take a marker and put a group of dots close together on that balloon.  These dots represent the statics used in a single airport.  Now inflate the balloon.  You may visualize that those dots now spread out as the balloon expands.  The same thing would happen to the placement of the airport statics.  Each static is placed with an absolute position related to Kerbin itself, not each other.  Thus, applying KSR Airports to any rescale of Kerbin, be it RSS or just one of the dozen some odd rescale mechanics, would result in nothing but a wide field of scattered objects.

 

"Okay, would you make KSR Airports for RSS or [INSERT RESCALE HERE]?"

I won't.  You're welcome to try.

 

"What license is KSR Airports using?"

KSR Airports and KSR Airports-specific support, data, and map assets are distributed with a GNU General Public License independent of Kerbinside Remastered or Kerbal Konstructs.

 

"Can you add some more things to your airports?  Like Kerbinside Campus did with KSC?"

To answer this question in a way that establishes the gravity of your request, I direct you to open the Airports Folder, open the Spaceports Folder, and then open KrackensBaneGalactic.  That wall of files represents one or more objects PER FILE that I have to manually place, align, and double check.  Each of these airports takes as much as 12 to 16 hours to fully establish.  And there are, planned at least, 2 spaceports, 10 International Airports, 20 Regional Airports, and likely 40 Local airports.  To perform this bit of landscaping to make these places more pretty requires the placement of assets that serve the pretty-fying function.   I should also mention that at the time this FAQ was written, those assets don't exist for Kerbinside Remastered.  I can't place assets I don't have.  And even if I had them, doing that work would be a full-time job for several months.  Also, the more assets I add, the harder it is on your systems.  Please think of the GPUs.

 

"Would you consider putting airports where the old Kerbinside bases were?"

No. At least not on purpose.  For two reasons.  One, is that I'm sure that Eskandare's bases will cover some of those fronts.  He already has a rehash of Round Range after all.  And two, several of old Kerbinside's bases were placed in locations, I would (charitably) call, INSANE.  While a VTOL base may make sense to sink 500 meters into a half-kilometer wide crater in the middle of a mountain range for a super-villain's evil lair, KSR airports is trying to establish bases that AREN'T attempts at playing skiiball with passenger's lives.  So airports are placed in SANE locations.  Most of them at lower altitudes, where lift for aircraft will be at its maximum.

 

"Why is an airport here, and not there?"

In placing airports, I'm applying logic.  For example, Spaceports are on the equator, because spaceplanes more than likely want the best planetary-rotation-assisted launch possible, and a nice equator orbit to start with.  So the Spaceport runways are ON the Equator line, to the fourth decimal place.  The international airports, as another example, are major hubs that would logically be near or in major cities.  Major cities have major populations, that need major resources, like water.  No water, no life.  So International Airports, as you might note, are a stone's throw away from a major water source of one type or another.  Other airports will be placed with similar, though maybe less stringent rules.  I am not placing 'challenge' bases where landings are hard for the sake of the challenge.  That's not how you place airports.

 

"Can you make an airport that looks like [REAL WORLD AIRPORT HERE]?"

No.  To explain, the statics available to me to use do no support the customization and complexity of real world airports.  The effort required for reproduction very quickly get out of hand and be very intense on your computer due to having to use excessive, impractical statics.  As an example, update 0.0.2 of KSR Airports has JMK International, started by BottleRocketeer 500.  After over a month of attempts to replicate JFK International, the attempt was abandoned due to afore mentioned difficulties and I simplified the work.

 

"What about some Polar Bases?"

Use some logic here.  I'm building an airport network for a virtual population.  WHO lives at the poles? 

In all seriousness, KSR Airports will not contain Polar Bases as part of the main airport sets.  I may slap down a secret one, but it'll be logically built to be more like a polar research base than an airport.   But I'm going to wait to see what Eskandare puts out before I deploy my own.

 

"What kind of secret bases are you planning, then?"

Secret, secret bases.

Okay, every base is going to have an entry in the chart.  But I'm hiding the 'secret' ones.  You can still look into them if you know how to unhide them.  But I'll be making the secret bases show up as anomalies for scanning.  You'll have more fun if you search for them that way.  But the secret bases won't be airports.  They'll be more like private facilities, oil rigs-

 

(ABOVE IMAGE: Experimental Rig...)

-and maybe some land bases for resource running.  I need to also check with Eskandare and his work on his 'Supply and Demand' mod addition.  So what I do make for secret bases right now, will be few.

 

"Uh, this island airport's missing a runway."

Read your chart before you panic.  If you just loaded up at Loui's Tropical Floatplane Stop...  Well, keyword "FLOATPLANE".  That, and the chart will tell you the runways don't exist and are WATER.  The hazard section will also tell you what you need to know.   There will be more than one of these floatplane bases.  Because having only one is... kinda boring.

 

"Okay, but is this airport over here supposed to be missing entirely?"

That might be a bug.  Probably caused by you opening the KK editor menu and messing with something.  But it is not a bug due to KSR airports.  I direct you to the readme file labeled 'ReadMeRightTheHeckNow' and implore you scroll down to known issues.  Do your homework.  That's why I provided extensive charts, a huge readme, and maps.  Game Manuals...  It's a lost art, man.

 

"Are you sure these bugs aren't KSR Airport's fault?"

KSR Airports consists of zero percent original code.  All work done in-game is through asset spawning and arranging through Kerbal Konstructs, using assets provided by Eskandare.  Any faults that cause major glitches should be directed to them.  I am merely a brick layer.  I cannot vouch for the bricks themselves.

 

"Will there be some contract packs for KSR Airports?"

It is my intent, that KSR Airports be significantly built up, that those who do the coding for contract packs pick this up and make them.  However, I myself have no experience working on the code for contracts.  I have been poked and have poked the Kerbinside GAP thread with my thoughts on contracts.  Give them your support, and you will surely see contract packs coming to life.

 

"Why do the spawn points for the airports all have weird letter naming in front of them?  Like X - K - Whatevernational?"

Organization in a list.  Kerbal Konstructs' base selection menu that you use in the SPH or VAB sorts everything into alphabetical order.  With an airport list that's likely to be 70+ entries long, you don't want to go scrabbling through trying to pick internationals out from Locals and Regionals.  So in the name of the spawn points, I place the airport size designator (S, X, R, or L), and the IKAO region letter.  This will keep airports of like-size clustered so that you may find them more easily.

 

"I've installed KSR Airports, but it's not working."

If by 'not working' you mean no airports are showing up, then you have two potential problems. 

 - 1: Kerbal Konstructs is not installed, or is not the correct version.

 - 2: Kerbinside Remastered is not installed.  Kerbinside Remastered supplies the assets.  No assets, no airport.  The End.

 

"I've installed the airports and they appear to be working, but the preview images are saying 'no preview available'."

You did not install KSR Airports into the right place.  Each spawn point for KSR airports uses a directory address that only works correctly if KSR airports is installed into the Kerbinside Remastered folder.  Review the ReadMeRightTheHeckNow file for installation instructions and ensure you did things right.

 

"Some of the base spawn icons are missing in the tracking station.  I can't find Loui's, for example."

Turn on 'OTHER' from the view selection list.  If it doesn't have a traditional runway, I didn't assign it a Runway category icon.  To turn on or off the icon filters, go to the tracking station or map view, and select the KK button.  A row of additional buttons will appear.  Tooltips should tell you what each button represents when you mouse over them.  The 'OTHER' is the triangle.

 

"I'm using Real Fuels, but the bases won't change from Liquid Fuel to Kerosene and AvGas."

Class, please open your ReadMeRightTheHeckNow file to section six, and note the explanation and procedure.  Until a patch is made that can force that over, you'll have to do it the long way.

 

"Your folder structure is needlessly complicated.  All these files could be squeezed down into one folder and all the runways could be packed into one big runway file."

Organization through compartmentalization.  If I tell you 'open the folder airports > International > CoralCoveInternational' and tell you to open the file named 1700c runway...  I know blindly that you are opening the runway file for Coral Cove International that has the launch site parameters built into it.  If I tell you, knowing this, to go open the spawn information on Loui's Tropical Floatplane Stop.  I know you're going to dive into airports > Local > LouisTropicalFloatplaneStop > 1700cRunway.   In this manner, I trade some complexity up front, for an intuitive way to keep edits to airports isolated, and work easy to follow.

 

"How does the TARMAC spawn work?"

The TARMAC spawn is just me using existing assets in a clever manner.  I spawn a runway static (usually the 1700 meter C), which has a built-in launch-site spawning point located in the model.  I shrink this to as small as it will get, then place it on the TARMAC somewhere that looks like a good parking spot.  I then alter the colorable grass to be bright yellow.  This makes it look kind of like a strangely placed speed bump with a yellow outline.  Kind of like a parking stripe.  These will remain in this fashion unless a dedicated 'parking spot' static is created to take their place.

 

"You forgot to put a spawn point on one of your bases.  I can't see it on the map or spawn at it."

No I didn't.  I just don't want you to spawn there.  I want you to create an aircraft capable of getting there and landing, then taking off again.  This will be reserved for the afore-mentioned 'secret' bases.  Mainly because if they work along side Supply and Demand's game style of sourcing things for logistics, I want to deter spawning right on the spot, buying supplies, then selling them by vessel-recovery.

 

"Okay.  So asking the most important question last instead of first, and somehow knowing all the other things to ask without ever seeing it, where can I get KSR Airports?"

Get the latest version at my GitHub link below.  Please pardon the mess, I'm not experienced using GitHub.

DOWNLOAD KSR AIRPORTS ON GITHUB

 

"Awesome.  But hey, I want to help with this.  How can I do so?"

I'd ask you to pay my car payment so I don't have to work so much ($505/mo. just in case that offer DOES get dropped on the table...), but I think that's asking a bit much.  Instead, just keep an eye on my development thread.  If I need something, I'll ask.  Heck, my next post will probably be asking about airport names.   Not that I'm psychic or anything...

 

Edited June 27, 2018 by AdmiralTigerclaw
MOAR IMAGES!

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

So, my first order of business in this new thread is brainstorming ideas for airport names.  I've got ten international airports, and two spaceports named.

 

But that leaves us with 20 Regionals, and numerous locals.

If anyone has ideas, feel free to post.  Feel free to be silly, but not TOO silly.

What sounds good, goes in the list below and will fill it in.

 

Regionals

- Manley Regional  COMPLETE

- Booster Bay Regional COMPLETE

- Yeager Point Regional COMPLETE

- Atlas Valley Regional COMPLETE

- Angel Island Regional COMPLETE

- Goldpool Regional (Bottle Rocketeer chose to copy the name from old KS) COMPLETE

- Phantom Sea Regional COMPLETE

- Seagull's Roost Regional COMPLETE

- Ernest K. Gann Regional COMPLETE

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

************

 

Locals

- Cherry Sky Park

- Green Peaks COMPLETE
-

etc... (I'll add 'slots' as these fill in.)

Edited August 3, 2018 by AdmiralTigerclaw

[Kardea]

So, just spitballing here:

 

Regional suggestions:

- Yeager Point Municipal

- Atlas Valley Regional

- Kergarin Aerodrome

Local suggestions:

- Mount Pleasant

- Broken Arrow

- Kerbington Downs

- Golden River

 

Also: “Area 42” as a hidden military-style facility with large runway out in a desert somewhere? 

Edited June 12, 2018 by Kardea

[Dimas152]

a simple suggestion
International airport in region O island, two runways, name it "Soekerman-Gatta Intl", runway pointing 25 and 7 deg

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

12 hours ago, [INDO]dimas_1502 said:

a simple suggestion
International airport in region O island, two runways, name it "Soekerman-Gatta Intl", runway pointing 25 and 7 deg

I looked at the airport when you posted it in the other thread.  Unfortunately, it was too sophisticated to deal with.  As it stands, I'm not trying to mimic any airports directly.  And the Intl Slots are all full at this point.  You can still suggest names though.  I got a regionals list that needs some ideas. 

 

 

@Kardea

I'll poke at your list at some point.  Also, for the Area 42 (which is actually double-deceptively clever), might poke Eskandare with that.  I have an idea for a base on the island just off the south pole.  I would end up calling it something cold-themed...  Like "Frostbyte Chair Force Base".

 

Flavor Text:  "The safety of Kerbal shipping rests in the capable hands of the pilots of Frostbyte, a remote Chair Force base in the far southern hemisphere.  Parkas and hot cocoa standard issue.  Some say deployment to Frostbite is a dead-end career.  To the pilots of Frostbyte, who get to drop bombs on icebergs just off shore, they get all the boom they could ask for, and none of the hospital time that comes with being a rocket-jock."

[Bottle Rocketeer 500]

@AdmiralTigerclaw For the first regional's name, if you meant Scott Manley's last name, then there is an E.

Also, maybe call one of the regionals:

Booster Bay Regional

Edit: Also, maybe:

Bob Kerman Regional

Bill Kerman Municipal

Edited June 13, 2018 by Bottle Rocketeer 500

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Good call on the name, I mistyped.

 

Anyway, is anyone familiar with the Mach Loop?

 

I want to establish at least one base near some place on Kerbin that would serve as a good analogue.

We'll need a place where the hills are pretty solidly significant, but also you can note a flight loop.

 

 

Also, I'm investing a little time in a nicer map.

 

 

This one, my master file is broken up into more layers to separate out markers, letters, etc.  If I want, I could even make aerial navigation routes.  And I can just hide layers and pop out cleaner maps with the information selected.

 

 

And Manley Regional's been built:

Edited June 15, 2018 by AdmiralTigerclaw

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Two more Regionals:

Booster Bay Regional

 

Yaeger Point Regional

 

 

EDIT: I'm getting ready to start on Atlas Valley Regional.

Gotta' fly a Tiltrotor over to where I plan to place it and land so I have a focus.

Edited June 20, 2018 by AdmiralTigerclaw

[Coyote21]

Your pics look great and I'm very excited to give it all a try but I can't find any download links anywhere. Have they been edited out at some point? or am I just blind? You have answers in your FAQ that suggest that others have downloaded and installed before which makes me think the link has just been accidently deleted recently.

 

Anyway, a download link for the files please.

 

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

3 hours ago, Coyote21 said:

Your pics look great and I'm very excited to give it all a try but I can't find any download links anywhere. Have they been edited out at some point? or am I just blind? You have answers in your FAQ that suggest that others have downloaded and installed before which makes me think the link has just been accidently deleted recently.

 

Anyway, a download link for the files please.

 

I haven't figured out an official hosting for it yet.  I gave a copy through PM to someone else, but I can't make that link public.

That reminds me:

@Kardea  I want to know how your advance copy (I say so cheekily) is looking.  In particular, give a flight to Loui's and land close to it, then tell me what you think.

[Bottle Rocketeer 500]

@AdmiralTigerclaw One tip- use 0.47, 0.47, 0.47, -0.22 for concrete gray. That seems to be the color closest to the one used.

Edited June 20, 2018 by Bottle Rocketeer 500

[JPmAn]

@AdmiralTigerclaw, Try a GitHub or GitLab repo. 

[Redneck]

This man has done alot for KSP and the community. 

Bob Palmer Intercontinental/regional/municipal whatever you prefer  (roverdude) 

Airport Code: BPI

 

[Kardea]

7 hours ago, AdmiralTigerclaw said:

I haven't figured out an official hosting for it yet.  I gave a copy through PM to someone else, but I can't make that link public.

That reminds me:

@Kardea  I want to know how your advance copy (I say so cheekily) is looking.  In particular, give a flight to Loui's and land close to it, then tell me what you think. 

"Loui's"?
EDIT: Tropical Floatplane. Got it. I'll check 'er out now.

Edited June 21, 2018 by Kardea

[aeroeng14]

Just wanted to say I'm very much looking forward to release (or testing)! This is a great service you are doing and will greatly enhance the KSP lore and playing experience.

[Coyote21]

 

9 hours ago, AdmiralTigerclaw said:

I haven't figured out an official hosting for it yet.  I gave a copy through PM to someone else, but I can't make that link public.

 

Ok, I'll look forward to its release.

Edited June 21, 2018 by Coyote21

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Today's airport...

 

 

Atlas Valley Regional and Chair Force Base.

[Kardea]

@AdmiralTigerclaw So I made it out to Loui's little 'ole island last night. Loved it! Haha. Was not expecting that, but it's a perfect touch. KSP needs more little additions like that. Makes the world feel much more 'lived-in.'

 

Edit: You may also already be aware, but directly spawning there (rather than flying in) spawns you about 350 meters in the air, for a quick and lethal plummet back to the runway. Just an FYI. Haha.

Edited June 21, 2018 by Kardea

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

1 hour ago, Kardea said:

@AdmiralTigerclaw So I made it out to Loui's little 'ole island last night. Loved it! Haha. Was not expecting that, but it's a perfect touch. KSP needs more little additions like that. Makes the world feel much more 'lived-in.'

Wish I could do more with it.  But the nature of the sound cube means I'd have to code separate cubes up as objects any time I wanted to add some music.  Plus the RAM consumption would skyrocket.

 

Otherwise, approach to Angel Island Regional would be a bit... hype.

 

[Kartoffelkuchen]

This is absolutely incredible, you‘re doing great work keep it up! Would love to get my hands on this...;)

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Okay guys, version 0.0.1 is now in a GitHub account...

 

I'm not famillair with how GitHub works, I just threw the packed .rar file up and tried to make a 'release', but the 'release' encapsulates the packed file.

So long as you get the KSRAirports_0_0_1.rar file, you should be able to unpack that directly into the Game Data folder into Kerbinside Remastered.

 

GITHUB LINK HERE

 

This is like, prerelease whatever.

I stuck the license up in the FAQs in the OP.

Edited June 22, 2018 by AdmiralTigerclaw

[Lisias]

On 6/22/2018 at 1:25 PM, AdmiralTigerclaw said:

I'm not famillair with how GitHub works, I just threw the packed .rar file up and tried to make a 'release', but the 'release' encapsulates the packed file.

The option for uploading a ZIP/RAR/whatever is intended to publish prebuilt binaries when applicable.

The usual practice of creating a "tarball" (at that time, the best packaging option was still tar and it stuck until nowadays) with the source needed to compile the project, but when non UNIX systems become prevalent and so a very few percentage of the userbase were able to compile the thing, "binary tarballs" started to be distributed in parallel.

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Just now, Lisias said:

The option for uploading a ZIP/RAR/whatever is intended to publish prebuilt binaries when applicable.

The usual practice of creating a "tarball" (at that time, the best packaging option was still tar and it stuck until nowadays) with the source needed to compile the project, but when non UNIX systems become prevalent and so a very few percentage of the userbase were able to compile the thing, "binary tarballs" started to be distributed in parallel.

Well, in my case, I'm more concerned about keeping the package in-tact without having to do individual uploads for every file/folder I create.  So long as I can put it up, and you guys can pull it down, we're golden.

[Space_Coyote]

Okay I got a question.. and this is in regards with one of the FAQ questions out there.. This deals with the turning off the Other to get the runway icons to appear..

 

"

Quote

Turn on 'OTHER' from the view selection list.  If it doesn't have a traditional runway, I didn't assign it a Runway category icon.

Exactly where do you fingd this option in the game is it under settings either on the min page or somewhere else..

Other than that , I have a lot of black squares and I know I am not running any compressed texture mods..

 

So the  other thing I can think of is my graphics card but since some of the launch pad icons show up, the real question is, is this a graphics issue or something else?

Space_Coyote

[Bottle Rocketeer 500]

@Space_Coyote You go to map view, (maybe the tracking station would work) click the Kerbal Konstructs icon thingy in the toolbar. Then, you get a row of gray buttons. Click the one with a triangle. It shows the icons for the "other" category.