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

[Embries]

Is there a manual or tutorial for this mod?  Preferably not a Youtube video.  I get the intent, But I am struggling to find a step by step what to do.

Edited March 18, 2024 by Embries

[Killersreturn]

Printshop idling issue

Hey, I've got the same issue as Findlay (idling printshop), and I believe the source of the issue to be from reloading the craft. This is quite annoying, as it prevents me from using the mod's functions. The common fixes I've tried have all failed, even using cheats to bring a new printshop to Minmus only allowed it to work until the next reload.

How do I remedy this? Will this get patched?

[Angelo Kerman]

  On 4/16/2024 at 10:49 PM, Killersreturn said:

Printshop idling issue

Hey, I've got the same issue as Findlay (idling printshop), and I believe the source of the issue to be from reloading the craft. This is quite annoying, as it prevents me from using the mod's functions. The common fixes I've tried have all failed, even using cheats to bring a new printshop to Minmus only allowed it to work until the next reload.

How do I remedy this? Will this get patched?

Expand  

This is a tough one, do you have steps to reproduce it?

[Taco Salad]

For some reason the smelters demand I construct a dyson sphere. I've checked the configs and they look normal enough, I have ZERO clue why they draw this much power when making metal. It's not just in the VAB, they suck that much power in actual use.

[Aelfhe1m]

  On 4/26/2024 at 5:51 AM, Taco Salad said:

For some reason the smelters demand I construct a dyson sphere. I've checked the configs and they look normal enough, I have ZERO clue why they draw this much power when making metal. It's not just in the VAB, they suck that much power in actual use.
 

Expand  

The EC values come from ExtraplanetaryLaunchpads/Resources/ECSmelter.cfg. There's an explanation in the config as to why it uses the settings it does.

There's also a patch at WildBlueIndustries/Sandcastle/Patches/ECSmelterClassic.cfg that tries to adjust the value, but it just adds an extra config node rather than modifying the existing one. 

Modifying the patch as follows or adding the following patch to your own patch folder would apply the intended settings:

  Reveal hidden contents

// Classic Stock Resources version of ECSmelter by Taniwha
// License: GPLV3
@EL_ConverterRecipe[ECHeatedSmelter]:AFTER[Launchpad]
{
	// Smelter uses electricity for heating instead of LFO combustion.  Liquid
	// fuel is mixed with metal ore to remove O3. The resulting reaction
	// produces metal (Fe) along with water (H20) and carbon dioxide (C02).
	//
	// From existing EL recipes:
	//
	// LiquidFuel is assumed to be RP-1 which is further assumed to be C12H16
	// and thus is 160.25544g/mol
	//
	// MetalOre is assumed to be hematite (Fe2O3) which is 159.6882g/mol
	//
	// Metal is Iron (Fe) 55.845g/mol
	// Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 44.0095g/mol
	// Water (H2O) 18.01528g/mol.
	//
	// This gives the following reaction:
	//   32Fe203 + 3C12H16 = 64FE + 24H20 + 36C02
	//
	// With the following masses:
	//
	// Input:
	//     Fe2O3 = 5110.022g
	//     C12H16 = 480.7663
	//
	// Output:
	//     FE  = 3574.08g
	//     H2O = 432.3667g
	//     CO2 = 1584.342g
	//
	// Total Mass (in & out) = 5590.789 (Used for EC rate)
	//
	// From wikipedia Electric Arc Furnace uses 440 kWh per ton per hour
	//   440kWh = (440,000w/hour)/(1,000,000g/hour) = 0.44w/g
	//
	//  1 EC assumed to be 1 watt, NFE uses 1 EC/s = 1000w. But this seems to
	//  to be a really low power consumption.
	//
	//   440kw/hour = 122.222 watt/s (use for scaling rate in part definition)
	//   Use Rate in EL_Converter definition of part to fine tune.
	@Input
	{
		@efficiency = 1.0
		@ElectricCharge = 0.002459947 // 0.005590789*0.44
		@MetalOre = 0.005110022
		@LiquidFuel = 0.000480766
	}
	@Output
	{
		@efficiency = 1.0
		@Metal = 0.00357408
		@GrayWater *= 0.000432367
		@Slag *= 0.001584342
	}
}

@EL_ConverterRecipe[ECHeatedRemelter]:AFTER[Launchpad]
{
	// Remelter is simpler just consume EC at 0.44 EC/g
	@Input
	{
		@efficiency = 1
		@ElectricCharge = 0.00044
		@ScrapMetal = 0.001
	}
	@Output
	{
		@efficiency = 1
		@Metal = 0.001
	}
}

 

  Reveal hidden contents

[Taco Salad]

Thanks, this fixed it!

[Killersreturn]

  On 4/19/2024 at 5:47 PM, Angelo Kerman said:

This is a tough one, do you have steps to reproduce it?

Expand  

Sure. Just load in either the Sandcastle or Quicksand printshops (with some ore and power generation of course), quicksave and reload. You should find that both the print shop and cargo recyclers stop working, just idling instead.

[CavaloRebaixado]

does it work with Simple Construction?

[MoonstreamInSpace]

How do I stop my printshop from filling entire inventories with copies of a part?

[mateusviccari]

The available parts seem to be only small parts, is there a way to print bigger parts?

[JadeOfMaar]

  On 6/15/2024 at 12:42 PM, mateusviccari said:

The available parts seem to be only small parts, is there a way to print bigger parts?

Expand  

You'll need a part/mod for a larger printer and you'll need to use Extraplanetary Launchpads to spawn it.

[theJesuit]

  On 6/15/2024 at 12:42 PM, mateusviccari said:

The available parts seem to be only small parts, is there a way to print bigger parts?

Expand  

Simplex Assembly gives the ability to make larger stock and Restock parts with a range of larger containers and a custom (stock based) printshop.

[Angelo Kerman]

Yeah, Sandcastle isn’t set up for printing large volume parts. I recall the biggest was around the cabins for Buffalo 2. For larger parts you might want to use Extraplanetary Launchpads.

[theJesuit]

From memory, the limitation is on having a cargo part with an inventory with a volume size big enough for the part volume defined in the part cfg file of what you want to print.  LGG's part volume mod adds volumes to all parts, and Simplex Assembly does for stock and Restock only.  The issue then is getting that cargo inventory part to 'print' the parts into i think.

 

[Angelo Kerman]

  On 6/16/2024 at 1:48 AM, theJesuit said:

From memory, the limitation is on having a cargo part with an inventory with a volume size big enough for the part volume defined in the part cfg file of what you want to print.  LGG's part volume mod adds volumes to all parts, and Simplex Assembly does for stock and Restock only.  The issue then is getting that cargo inventory part to 'print' the parts into i think.

 

Expand  

Yeah the biggest print shop in Sandcastle can handle the Buffalo 2 cabin parts. I vaguely recall that the Hacienda in Pathfinder had larger storage capacity.

[Angelo Kerman]

  On 4/30/2024 at 11:33 PM, Killersreturn said:

Sure. Just load in either the Sandcastle or Quicksand printshops (with some ore and power generation of course), quicksave and reload. You should find that both the print shop and cargo recyclers stop working, just idling instead.

Expand  

Ok, I've just tried this. I put an item in the queue, let it start printing, did a quicksave and quickload, and the printer kept on printing. Do you have other steps that can reproduce this issue?

[Angelo Kerman]

I've been making some updates to Sandcastle. Nothing ready for release just yet, but they're getting there. Next release will let you change the part variants and flags when in EVA Construction Mode:

I'm also setting up the Sandcaster and orbital construction manipulator so that they'll be able to print a single part and spawn it into the world, regardless of part size. The printed part won't have any resources (except a token amount of Electric Charge if the part has that resource):

This will work even without Extraplanetary Launchpads installed- which offers a much more robust part printing support.

[mateusviccari]

Are we supposed to get filled fuel tanks after printing them?

[Angelo Kerman]

  On 7/14/2024 at 8:42 PM, mateusviccari said:

Are we supposed to get filled fuel tanks after printing them?

Expand  

No. For printed parts that are dropped into the world, they'll be empty.

Today I took a step closer to vessel printing. I figured out how to display the vessel load dialog:

[Mr. Kerbin]

@Angelo Kerman I have a question, in your mission reports, you have space station modules, inflatable station pieces, and docking ports that I can't find anywhere else. They seem to the in the style of your mods. Are they private? Are they somewhere in one of your fantastic mods?

[Calvin Kerman]

  On 7/16/2024 at 5:58 PM, Mr. Kerbin said:

space station modules, inflatable station pieces, and docking ports that I can't find anywhere else

Expand  

Perhaps DSEV?

[Rakete]

  On 7/14/2024 at 9:56 PM, Angelo Kerman said:

No. For printed parts that are dropped into the world, they'll be empty.

Today I took a step closer to vessel printing. I figured out how to display the vessel load dialog:

Expand  

Will we be able to print whole vessels (without having to use extraplanetary Launchpads)? E.g. a whole buggy?

[Angelo Kerman]

  On 7/16/2024 at 5:58 PM, Mr. Kerbin said:

@Angelo Kerman I have a question, in your mission reports, you have space station modules, inflatable station pieces, and docking ports that I can't find anywhere else. They seem to the in the style of your mods. Are they private? Are they somewhere in one of your fantastic mods?

Expand  

The inflatable parts are from my Pathfinder mod. 

The mod is pretty old but it still works. I would need to toss out the old parts and make whole new ones to get the mod up to modern art styles.

The Discovery-class ships use parts from my Deep Space Exploration Vessels mod.

DSEV is also old but still works. I have given it a facelift relatively recently. Thankfully it’s not in as bad shape as Pathfinder.

Sandcastle was actually going to be a soft-replacement for Pathfinder at one point, kind of like how Buffalo 2 quietly replaces MOLE with its station part variants.

I was working on Subnautica-inspired outpost parts for Sandcastle but never got around to more than a prototype.  They were going to use what I learned from making Buffalo 2. I shelved the idea when KSP 2 was announced but we all know how that went….

  On 7/16/2024 at 7:16 PM, Rakete said:

Will we be able to print whole vessels (without having to use extraplanetary Launchpads)? E.g. a whole buggy?

Expand  

Yes, that’s the plan. I absolutely love Extraplanetary Launchpads and have championed it for years with my mods but I also would like an alternative. With Sandcastle I can specify things like gravity conditions or pressure conditions or require special parts in order to print vessels. That way, some parts that are blacklisted from the printers would need to be shipped to the building site. I can’t do that with EL. For the vast majority of vessels, there would be no restrictions but I can (for my game) Module Manager patch extra requirements for the parts that comprise a vessel.

Think of the warp engines from Blueshift, for instance. They have noticeably alien looking bits in the 3D models. Those bit can’t be printed in my game and must be shipped from Kerbin. Or perhaps those components need special conditions to be printed.

Also, the ability to print whole vessels means that I can open the door for printing those base parts that I mentioned…

Anyway, I’m still working on the design for the vessel printer. Right now it determines what parts it needs to “print” in order to build the vessel. They aren’t actually printed and placed in storage, it’s just a way to figure out what it needs to do. But if you have parts in storage then you can use them to make the vessel and reduce assembly time. It might be neat to have the ability to salvage vessels and store all the parts that you have room for, though you could also do that with an engineer to some extent.  Sort of like a Shipbreaker mini-game.

[Mr. Kerbin]

Thanks @Angelo Kerman . You make and write great things.

[Angelo Kerman]

Finally figured out the vessel rotation issues that I was having- thanks for the help @taniwha!

When printing a vessel, if you have parts stored in inventory then they'll be used to print the vessel and reduce printing time. Also, the vessel printer can request that other print shops attached to the vessel with the printer to help out with printing parts.