[Min KSP 1.12.X] Sandcastle: 3D printing for parts and vessels

[JadeOfMaar]

On 5/27/2022 at 5:19 PM, tremonthedgehog said:

Does this work with simple construction

There's no reason for these mods to conflict.

[SkyFall2489]

On 5/27/2022 at 2:19 PM, tremonthedgehog said:

Does this work with simple construction

On 2/19/2022 at 8:08 AM, SkyFall2489 said:

SimpleConstruction uses a different resource chain, however.

EL has:

MetalOre, LFO -> Metal (smelter)

Metal-> RocketParts, ScrapMetal (workshop)

ScrapMetal, LFO -> Metal (smelter)

 

Sandcastle has:

MetalOre, LiquidFuel -> Metal (smelter)

Metal -> RocketParts, ScrapMetal

ScrapMetal -> Metal (smelter)

 

SimpleConstruction has:

Ore -> Metal (ISRU)

Metal -> RocketParts (science labs)

 

[cinemagic]

An error for Universal storage

[LOG 16:18:59.967] Applying update KSP_PartVolume/AddToAllParts/@PART[*]:HAS[!MODULE[ModuleCargoPart],@MODULE[ModuleInventoryPart],!MODULE[KerbalEVA]]:FINAL to UniversalStorage2/Parts/Science/CargoStorageWedge.cfg/PART[USCargoStorageWedge]
[WRN 16:18:59.967] Cannot find key packedVolumeLimit in MODULE
[ERR 16:18:59.968] Error - Cannot parse variable search when inserting new key packedVolumeLimit = #$/MODULE[ModuleInventoryPart]/packedVolumeLimit$

 

Can I use sandcastle for parts printing paired with USI konstruction or Globle construction for ship building? do they conflict and do they use same resource?

[cinemagic]

On 3/20/2022 at 5:32 AM, Angel-125 said:

Sigh, I really hate B9PS because of issues like this. I could use some help debugging this since I don't use B9PS.

Since I see so many mods use B9partswitch, for common player not experienced mod author, it's so hard to completely avoid it.

If you are not using any B9PS, how do you manage fuel tank and containers outside WBI series? do you distribute WBI omni storage function to other mods?

[Robin Patenall]

On 5/27/2022 at 10:19 PM, tremonthedgehog said:

Does this work with simple construction

I was looking at swapping out EPL with SimpleConstruction but it does look like there are compatibility issues with Sandcastle. Mostly because there is no MetalOre or ScrapMetal in SimpleConstruction which causes issues with B9PartSwitch. There are also issues with the densities of some on the resources which means that the simplest changes (changing MetalOre to Ore and dropping ScrapMetal) caused the RocketParts container to act like a Tardis and the Smelter to behave oddly.

 

[SkyFall2489]

5 hours ago, Robin Patenall said:

I was looking at swapping out EPL with SimpleConstruction but it does look like there are compatibility issues with Sandcastle. Mostly because there is no MetalOre or ScrapMetal in SimpleConstruction which causes issues with B9PartSwitch. There are also issues with the densities of some on the resources which means that the simplest changes (changing MetalOre to Ore and dropping ScrapMetal) caused the RocketParts container to act like a Tardis and the Smelter to behave oddly.

 

I have a patch which should deal with most of the stuff, it doesnt deal with capacities or b9 though. I figure just re-adding the metalore definition would be enough to prevent b9 from yelling about it.

Spoiler

@PART[Size2PrintShopSmall,Size2PrintShop,wbiELSandcaster,ELLathe]:NEEDS[SimpleConstruction]
{
    !MODULE[ELConverter]{}

    MODULE
    {
        name = ModuleResourceConverter
        ConverterName = RocketParts
        StartActionName = Start Printing Parts
        StopActionName = Stop Printing Parts 
        AutoShutdown = false
        UseSpecialistBonus = false

        INPUT_RESOURCE
        {
            ResourceName = Metal
            Ratio = 0.25
            FlowMode = STAGE_PRIORITY_FLOW
        }
        
        INPUT_RESOURCE
        {
            ResourceName = ElectricCharge
            Ratio = 30
        }
        
        OUTPUT_RESOURCE
        {
            ResourceName = RocketParts
            Ratio = 0.25
            DumpExcess = false
            FlowMode = STAGE_PRIORITY_FLOW
        }
    }    
}

In my opinion, the balance is super messed up across sandcastle, epl, and sc anyways. SC's rocketparts tank holds twice as much as sandcastles, which is still way denser than the epl tanks.

Edited June 19, 2022 by SkyFall2489

[Robin Patenall]

Hi @Angel-125

I've just started actually using this in my game but I've noticed some issues with the Recycler UI:

• It looks like the part selection menu, when there's nothing in the queue, jumps  back to the top every few seconds. I have lots of parts in cargo storage and it's difficult to select parts that are at the bottom as when I scroll down, the scroll resets quickly to the top of the window. Several times I've recycled the wrong part because the window jumped just before I clicked on the part. I'm assuming that this is some sort of periodic refresh.
  • Steps to reproduce:
  1. Have a vessel with a print shop (the large one) and a SEQ-24 cargo container.
  2. Have parts in the cargo containers, enough to make the recycler part selection window have a scrollbar (24 EAS-4 struts + 24 OX-STAT Photovoltaic Panels)
  3. Open the recycler UI
  4. Have nothing in the recycler queue
  5. Scroll the parts window to the bottom
  6. After a couple of seconds, the window's scroll will jump to the top
• It is sometimes very difficult to identify which part is which (i,e. which of the 20 EAS-4 Struct Connectors in the window are which). I suppose that this isn't a major problem but I'd prefer to recycle the parts I've just pulled off the spent stage I've docked rather than from my neatly arranged stores. Ideally, the parts window would be split up by container, but if that is difficult, could I suggest putting the parts in the inventory slots of the print shop(s) at the top of the parts list and have the rest visually separated from them? In this case possibly having the options to only show parts that are in the print shop inventory slots, and hiding the rest, might be good idea. This would also help with the window scroll reset as you could just put things you want to recycle in the print shop, which would always be at the top. 

[Angelo Kerman]

On 7/21/2022 at 3:49 PM, Robin Patenall said:

Hi @Angel-125

I've just started actually using this in my game but I've noticed some issues with the Recycler UI:

• It looks like the part selection menu, when there's nothing in the queue, jumps  back to the top every few seconds. I have lots of parts in cargo storage and it's difficult to select parts that are at the bottom as when I scroll down, the scroll resets quickly to the top of the window. Several times I've recycled the wrong part because the window jumped just before I clicked on the part. I'm assuming that this is some sort of periodic refresh.
  • Steps to reproduce:
  1. Have a vessel with a print shop (the large one) and a SEQ-24 cargo container.
  2. Have parts in the cargo containers, enough to make the recycler part selection window have a scrollbar (24 EAS-4 struts + 24 OX-STAT Photovoltaic Panels)
  3. Open the recycler UI
  4. Have nothing in the recycler queue
  5. Scroll the parts window to the bottom
  6. After a couple of seconds, the window's scroll will jump to the top
• It is sometimes very difficult to identify which part is which (i,e. which of the 20 EAS-4 Struct Connectors in the window are which). I suppose that this isn't a major problem but I'd prefer to recycle the parts I've just pulled off the spent stage I've docked rather than from my neatly arranged stores. Ideally, the parts window would be split up by container, but if that is difficult, could I suggest putting the parts in the inventory slots of the print shop(s) at the top of the parts list and have the rest visually separated from them? In this case possibly having the options to only show parts that are in the print shop inventory slots, and hiding the rest, might be good idea. This would also help with the window scroll reset as you could just put things you want to recycle in the print shop, which would always be at the top. 

Thanks for the bug report, I'll take a look.

[Rutabaga22]

Nice logo! The font seems a like it belongs near water...

[Robin Patenall]

Hi @Angel-125,

I noticed today that I couldn't manipulate the Printshops and Cargo containers while in EVA construction mode. It looks like it is intended that you should be able to this, as those parts have a ModuleCargoPart with packedVolume=-1 but that module needs to come before the ModuleInventoryPart one for it to work. I made the changes to the 2 printshops and 3 cargo containers and tested it and it all seems to work. I'm pretty sure that I've managed to submit a pull request with the fix on github, but it  is the first time that I've done one.

 

[MoonstreamInSpace]

I just reconfigured a Ponderosa into a Sandcastle to test that everything is working, and there are no parts whatsoever in the print dialog. How do I fix this?

EDIT:It appears that it's some bug specifically with Pathfinder itself, as the basic Sandcastle thing works. Maybe the Ponderosa doesn't have enough inventory space?

EDIT:I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the Ponderosa not having its own inventory.

Edited December 5, 2022 by MoonstreamInSpace

[MoonstreamInSpace]

Another issue: When I print a part variant (buffalo chassis long), it prints the part like it should, but the attachment nodes appear to be taken from the base part instead  of the variant (it has the buffalo chassis short nodes, but looks like a long chassis). What is going on?

EDIT: OK, it appears it's a bigger bug than I thought. Even a part placed in the VAB has the wrong nodes in EVA construction.

Edited December 9, 2022 by MoonstreamInSpace

[MoonstreamInSpace]

Also, randomly, when I print a part, there is a chance the workshop tries to start filling every container it can reach with them. (if it helps, the workshop efficiency was set to 100, so I could build parts fast to test things)

Edited December 9, 2022 by MoonstreamInSpace

[Rakete]

Does sandcastle also print mod-parts (like nerteas Parts: SSPXr, Near/Far Future .... or the BDA+ parts?) when prepared via KSP_Partvolumes?  All of those mods use B9PS - will it work?

Currently planing to use it without EL. For now...

Edited December 22, 2022 by Rakete

[JadeOfMaar]

3 hours ago, Rakete said:

Does sandcastle also print mod-parts

It could, but there's no inventory box big enough to contain any single one of SSPXr's parts (except the 1.25m ones, I guess), and it's arguably impossible to have the number of kerbals around, necessary to haul and attach them. If the part's mass isn't a problem, it's the distance from the kerbal to the CoM (assuming there's a finite range like in KAS&KIS).

[Rakete]

7 minutes ago, JadeOfMaar said:

It could, but there's no inventory box big enough to contain any single one of SSPXr's parts (except the 1.25m ones, I guess), and it's arguably impossible to have the number of kerbals around, necessary to haul and attach them. If the part's mass isn't a problem, it's the distance from the kerbal to the CoM (assuming there's a finite range like in KAS&KIS).

That's alright. My question aimed to possible incompatibilities to B9PS (I've read here somewhere about it in this thread), as many mods, I have in use, use it. As long as it works alright. I don't want to place big station parts on EVA. Just want to be sure, the mods don't interfere with each other, having them installed side by side.

But I can print small parts like TAC Self destruct packages and things like that, right?

Edited December 22, 2022 by Rakete

[JadeOfMaar]

3 hours ago, Rakete said:

That's alright. My question aimed to possible incompatibilities to B9PS (I've read here somewhere about it in this thread), as many mods, I have in use, use it. As long as it works alright. I don't want to place big station parts on EVA. Just want to be sure, the mods don't interfere with each other, having them installed side by side.

But I can print small parts like TAC Self destruct packages and things like that, right?

Ahhh. Well I can imagine B9PS options being inaccessible in SandCastle's part selection. That'd be a serious bother.

Yea you can print the small stuff from any mod easy.

[Rakete]

3 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

Ahhh. Well I can imagine B9PS options being inaccessible in SandCastle's part selection. That'd be a serious bother.

Yea you can print the small stuff from any mod easy.

Yeah, just tested it. Printed a charge for self destruct if needed and printed a radial attachment point from SSPRx and a dockingport. Worked well. And yes, unfortunately B9PS-Variants of parts are not available for choosing in the printer menue. It is okay for now, but... if @Angel-125 wants to do one last feature increment, this would be a nice proposal. But I don't want to ask for it - he has already done so many great things - i like sandcastle as it is. Installed it today for the first time and like it.

Funfact: I can even print BD-Armory-parts, and equip a space station after launch with a radar guided Killvehicle launcher to shoot down satellites and debris from 30km distance... and print a new Killvehicle for the launcher in the printer. Thats fun. Why delete debris, if you can shoot it down and make little nasty particles (increasing the danger for spacsstations... but... who cares )out of it. 

 

P.S.: I love the simplicity, that it needs only normal ore. My heavy modded gameplay already got super complex. Thats kinda complex enough 

 

As for EL : gonna look for a recent video explaining it. Maaaaybe I'll give that mod also a try... oh my dear... I got so many many mods installed side by side. KSP2 can't be as feature rich as my mod collection, thanks to devs like Angel or Nertea or RTB etc.

 

But I wonder how @linuxgurugamer's partvolumes determine the volume of a part. When I compare the volumes of BD armorys HE-KV1 and the RBS missile: both look relatively similar in size but have a huge deviation an ocupied litres in storage space... Mh... but that's another topic.

Edited December 22, 2022 by Rakete

[Angelo Kerman]

Sorry but no. B9PS is too complicated to support 

[linuxgurugamer]

1 hour ago, Rakete said:

But I wonder how @linuxgurugamer's partvolumes determine the volume of a part. When I compare the volumes of BD armorys HE-KV1 and the RBS missile: both look relatively similar in size but have a huge deviation an ocupied litres in storage space... Mh... but that's another topic

It's a simple method, I get the max dimensions of the part from the model, multiply them together and add a fudge factor for packing room.  It's an approximation, and if the model is bigger than the part, the volume can be off

[Rakete]

6 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

It's a simple method, I get the max dimensions of the part from the model, multiply them together and add a fudge factor for packing room.  It's an approximation, and if the model is bigger than the part, the volume can be off

Ah okay... it calculates a box around it. Okay... then it makes sense, that the volume of a elipsoid body like the rbs missile from bda+ is way off. 

7 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Sorry but no. B9PS is too complicated to support 

Alright. Love sandcastle as it is. I mean, it's also kinda good, to have a reason to still need to construct stuff on kerbin.

[linuxgurugamer]

4 hours ago, Rakete said:

Ah okay... it calculates a box around it. Okay... then it makes sense, that the volume of a elipsoid body like the rbs missile from bda+ is way off. 

Yes.  I'd like to be able to calculate the actual volume, but so far haven't been able to .

[flart]

19 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

It could, but there's no inventory box big enough to contain any single one of SSPXr's parts (except the 1.25m ones, I guess), and it's arguably impossible to have the number of kerbals around, necessary to haul and attach them. If the part's mass isn't a problem, it's the distance from the kerbal to the CoM (assuming there's a finite range like in KAS&KIS).

• Deployable Inventory have large inventory parts,  
• you can set up PartVolumes to calculate volume for almost all parts,
• weight is not a problem in space or low gravity bodies,
• changing settings.cfg could make EVA construction more convenient:
  EVA_INVENTORY_RANGE = 15      // 5
  EVA_CONSTRUCTION_RANGE = 15   // 7
  EVA_CONSTRUCTION_COMBINE_RANGE = 15 // 7 
• KSPCommunityFixes makes EVA construction less volatile

Result — you can print and build with the sandcastle almost everything.

[Rakete]

1 hour ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Yes.  I'd like to be able to calculate the actual volume, but so far haven't been able to .

I think it would also be an overly complicated task. And a box is plausible... everything is stored in boxes even wine bottles...

[linuxgurugamer]

4 hours ago, Rakete said:

I think it would also be an overly complicated task. And a box is plausible... everything is stored in boxes even wine bottles...

That was my thinking as well