Parachute modding

[Tommygun]

I'm trying to mod a stronger parachute design and would like to know if there are parameters in the part cfg file that sets it strength.

The two issue I'm looking to address are the parachutes ripping apart and the chute becoming detached from the capsule.

CrashTolerance doesn't seem to be one of them? Also does maxTemp do anything yet? I understand they want to add reentry heat later in the game.

[Charzy]

With regards to maxtemp, I believe engines can disperse heat throughout your craft. If you had a really low maxTemp fuel tank above a normal engine, the fuel tank could end up exploding. The bar for heat isn't shown on anything but engines, but engines can produce (or reduce, with .cfg edits) heat.

[Tommygun]

Thanks for the information.

My plan for learning to mod is do it in four steps.

First I started by changing the texture of an existing part. (I'm not releasing it, it's just for practice)

Next I want to change it's parameters.

Then learn to make my own models in blender and finally learn to code from scratch or at least a template.

Are some of the parameters that control failure or breaking outside the .cfg part file?

[Tiberion]

crash tolerance does affect it; that stat determines how much force it takes to "crush" the part, this can be from too much weight on the part (for things like engines and tanks, or any load-bearing structure) or from colliding with another part, ship, or the ground at a certain speed, or in the case parachutes from the drag it induces when it opens (If the weight of the falling capsule and its Force(gravity) + drag break the crash threshold, the parachute will be destroyed.

The other two deal with the actual connection between 2 parts:

breakingForce = xxxxx

breakingTorque = xxxxx

They govern the linear and perpendicular forces acting on the connection. So too much weight hanging off of a chute would be adjusted by breakingForce, while breakingTorque would determine if a connection breaks if a ship is getting wrenched from side to side (control wobble, strong control inputs, etc.)

The breaking* variables aren't in cfg files by default, and I'm not sure anyone knows what the default values for them are, so you might have to experiment to find the 'sweet spot'

As for shredding a chute; there is no "part damage" in the game yet, they can just be explode via crashing, breaking, or overheating. So you'd have to write a custom plugin to handle the detection of when a chute would shred, and then have it swap textures or play an animation or something. One of the plugin authors here can probably help you get started on that

Maxtemp would indeed work, except parts only get heated by engine exhaust currently (they could get heat from environments, but no such heat source exists currently, and of course re-entry heat is still planned down the line.

[Tommygun]

Tiberion, thank you very much for this.

I had seen breakingForce and breakingTorque in other part files and suspected they where used only to change a hidden default value.

I'll play with the values and see what happens.

Animation is a long term goal. I would ideally like to have a two staged chute deployment that first deploys a high speed drogue chute, then after slowing down the main chute deploys.

So I have a place to start, thanks again.

[CrashnBurn]

If you look at the strength of a part without a part.cfg setting it will display "22". I assume that is the default if you don't set breakingForce and breakingTorque. Some of the new 2m stock parts use a setting of 200 in the part.cfg file. This not only improves connection strength but has a significant effect on wobble also.

[Tommygun]

That's good to know.

It would be great if they listed all the default values in the wiki and more explanations of some of the variables.

I'm still not clear of the difference between crashTolerance and impactTolerance.