[1.12.5] Sterling Systems v0.4.9 [Sep 22, 2024]

[jebycheek]

What a beautiful mod with fantastic ideas!

Edit: having some issues with the film radiators they all seems glitching, I'm using the latest version of deferred rendering and parallax continued on patreon.

Edited September 9 by jebycheek

[JadeOfMaar]

3 hours ago, jebycheek said:

What a beautiful mod with fantastic ideas!

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoy.

3 hours ago, jebycheek said:

having some issues with the film radiators they all seems glitching,

Save this as a new config anywhere in GameData. It will turn off the rain effect inside them and stop the flickering.

@PART[strl-rad-lfr-sta*]
{
	MODULE
	{
		name = ModuleB9DisableTransform
		transform = Scroll
	}
}

 

[JadeOfMaar]

EL/Sandcastle spawners

Large pad diameter is 25m. Small pad diameter is 10m. Runway's flat and ramp are multiples of 25m x 50m. Ramp has toggles for length and angle.

 

Edited September 17 by JadeOfMaar
finished textures, pretty much

[JadeOfMaar]

Release 0.4.9

Additions

• Added Chinese localization provided by @Aebestach on GitHub.
• Added Sterling Utilities:
  • Added Circular Refinery (Omniconverter only) suite.
  • Added Circular Printery EL drone / Sandcastle printer suite.
  • Added construction site suite: Rocket pads, runway, variable field with Omnistorage.
  • Added recipes concerning reactor fuels.
  • Tagged compatible Omniconverter recipes in WildBlueTools to appear in Sterling Omniconverters.

Changes

• ⭐ Reorganized mod folders and added to modularity of install. CKAN ready.
• Updated Sterling Tankage:
  • Added ExoticMinerals tank type.
  • Updated unitsPerVolume on tank types. They were nerfed in error.
• Updated Sterling Thermals:
  • Added emissives for wrapper heatshields and super heavy shield.
  • Removed stock shiny shader and texture from super heavy shield.
  • Restored radiator module for inline heatsinks.

Fixes

• Updated Sterling Electric:
  • Fixed missing } in localization.
  • Fixed missing # in Delta Electro (non-System Heat) power config. Error caused the parts to be invalid and not appear.
• Updated Sterling Thermals:
  • Added DRE detection. DRE renames the ablator module which upsets the super heavy shield's B9PS config.
  • Fixed slight detached geometry in 3.75m white wrapper radiators.

Edited September 22 by JadeOfMaar
Mod is on CKAN now

[BSS_Snag]

would be nice if the front page had a Imgur album or something to show off all the parts in one spot

[EHB]

Electric nuclear reactor parts aren't loaded properly for me. Relevant part of log:

[LOG 12:04:35.609] PartLoader: Compiling Part 'SterlingSystems/Electrics/Nuclear/KRUSTY/strl-rctrkrusty'
[ERR 12:04:35.610] PartCompiler: Cannot clone model 'SterlingSystems/Electric/Nuclear/KRUSTY' as model does not exist

[ERR 12:04:35.610] PartCompiler: Model was not compiled correctly

[ERR 12:04:35.610] PartCompiler: Cannot compile model

[ERR 12:04:35.610] PartCompiler: Cannot compile part

[LOG 12:04:35.610] PartLoader: Compiling Part 'SterlingSystems/Electrics/Nuclear/SCM/strl-rctrscm'
[ERR 12:04:35.611] PartCompiler: Cannot clone model 'SterlingSystems/Electric/Nuclear/SCM' as model does not exist

[ERR 12:04:35.611] PartCompiler: Model was not compiled correctly

[ERR 12:04:35.611] PartCompiler: Cannot compile model

[ERR 12:04:35.611] PartCompiler: Cannot compile part

I think the problem is that the model paths in the cfg files contain typos; should be Electrics instead of Electric.

[JadeOfMaar]

5 hours ago, EHB said:

Electric nuclear reactor parts aren't loaded properly for me. -snip-

I think the problem is that the model paths in the cfg files contain typos; should be Electrics instead of Electric.

I just made the fix and reuploaded the zip for Electrics. They should show up now.

[slyfox023]

On 9/17/2024 at 1:06 PM, JadeOfMaar said:

EL/Sandcastle spawners

Large pad diameter is 25m. Small pad diameter is 10m. Runway's flat and ramp are multiples of 25m x 50m. Ramp has toggles for length and angle.

 

quick question about these things, how is someone suppose to deploy them exactly? from what I can guess these things will be WAY to heavy to carry on a kerbals, and they don't come in a packaged box, and while on that topic, I was wondering if you could make the other deployable objects a little more lighter, I run with KAS and KIS but even with 8 kerbals I couldn't carry the solar tower, is that possible at all? if not it's fine

[JadeOfMaar]

15 minutes ago, slyfox023 said:

quick question about these things, how is someone suppose to deploy them exactly? from what I can guess these things will be WAY to heavy to carry on a kerbals, and they don't come in a packaged box, and while on that topic, I was wondering if you could make the other deployable objects a little more lighter, I run with KAS and KIS but even with 8 kerbals I couldn't carry the solar tower, is that possible at all? if not it's fine

Spawn them as you would any large multi-part vessel by using Extraplanetary Launchpads as normal or by using the newly released Shipwright functions in Sandcastle. It helps (or not) that I personally raised the value for max storable volume in the Part Volume mod (in my test install) which calculates this for all parts so I could see these things as printable via SandCastle while watching them in the ship editors. I've chosen to not have them require resources to deploy after spawning as I want them to be massive to avoid possibly krakening by weighing far less than whatever's going to rest on them.

I can easily reduce the masses of the World Power boxed parts. I've been considering and waiting for a module that makes the parts cost resources to open. Angelo Kerman has written a second module that works like his original packing box module and I intend to use that.

I've also been waiting on feedback such as this to help me anticipate player's needs a little better.

[KspNoobUsernameTaken]

2 minutes ago, JadeOfMaar said:

Angelo Kerman has written a second module that works like his original packing box module and I intend to use that.

Why that rather that the one he's made years ago?

 

Like what new stuff does it do?

 

[JadeOfMaar]

1 minute ago, KspNoobUsernameTaken said:

Why that rather that the one he's made years ago?

 

Like what new stuff does it do?

 

He told me himself that the original code is quite messy. Better to write a new module than to update it and possibly break everyone's past games using his parts.

The new module does one new thing, or two: It accepts effect sounds (see: langing gear deploy) and allows for returning resources when the part is boxed back.

[KspNoobUsernameTaken]

Just now, JadeOfMaar said:

allows for returning resources when the part is boxed back.

Ah, now that's interesting

[KspNoobUsernameTaken]

So we could get habitats that you deploy, then survey the area, then undeploy later

The time is right for Pathfinder 2.0

Angelo Kerman even said that he might add base parts to Sandcastle, which would then supersede Pathfinder

[Hypersonic Was Taken Again]

Have you considered a droplet-based particle shield? It could act as a radiator with the same efficiency as the droplet radiator panels, but also be able to attach to the front of a ship so as to act as a shield. I believe Orion's Arm has an article on the technology, worth a read.

[JadeOfMaar]

13 hours ago, Hypersonic Was Taken Again said:

Have you considered a droplet-based particle shield?

I've considered the same radiator (Project Valkyrie antimatter starship has intrigued me for a long time) but not its potential use as a shield. I found an entry on Orion's Arm as you hinted at. Unfortunately it's currently beyond me to produce annular droplet radiators (or at least, to do the droplets themselves properly, as I lack access to proper shaders. Using basic/stock shaders will look kinda flat and incomplete or will flicker).

An alternative that I've very strongly considered and can easily do is the magnetic/pathfinder shield of Avalon starship (Passengers movie).

Edited October 9 by JadeOfMaar

[Hypersonic Was Taken Again]

15 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

I've considered the same radiator (Project Valkyrie antimatter starship has intrigued me for a long time) but not its potential use as a shield. I found an entry on Orion's Arm as you hinted at. Unfortunately it's currently beyond me to produce annular droplet radiators (or at least, to do the droplets themselves properly, as I lack access to proper shaders. Using basic/stock shaders will look kinda flat and incomplete or will flicker).

An alternative that I've very strongly considered and can easily do is the magnetic/pathfinder shield of Avalon starship (Passengers movie).

I also looked into the Project Valkyrie starship, particularly Retro Visor's amazing series of renders on Artstation. A ramscoop would be a great addition to Sterling Systems, unless it already is part of the mod and I've forgor. How does the shader work with the panel radiators?

[JadeOfMaar]

46 minutes ago, Hypersonic Was Taken Again said:

Retro Visor's amazing series of renders on Artstation.

Ou la la! ...It's hard for me to fathom how multiple plumes can be reliably (or at all) generated by what appears to be a single, shallow funnel structure. Or there are more coils than is obvious.

47 minutes ago, Hypersonic Was Taken Again said:

A ramscoop would be a great addition to Sterling Systems

Harvesters are their own whole big project. None exist yet.

47 minutes ago, Hypersonic Was Taken Again said:

How does the shader work with the panel radiators?

The in-game film consists of two transparent meshes. (Depending on what's doing the rendering, layered transparent objects are a no-no. KSP is poor at handling this case which means flickering and Z-fighting happen.) The outer mesh is the static gradient emissive. An even thinner inner mesh carries the non-emissive rain effect (using the stock Scrolling Unlit shader). I've released a config which disables the inner rain mesh since it's less important when viewed from afar.

[Hypersonic Was Taken Again]

4 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

The in-game film consists of two transparent meshes. (Depending on what's doing the rendering, layered transparent objects are a no-no. KSP is poor at handling this case which means flickering and Z-fighting happen.) The outer mesh is the static gradient emissive. An even thinner inner mesh carries the non-emissive rain effect (using the stock Scrolling Unlit shader). I've released a config which disables the inner rain mesh since it's less important when viewed from afar.

Would it not make sense to combine both into an emissive and animated texture (if such a thing is possible, I am quite uneducated when it comes to KSP modding), and then have that be toggled when the radiator is turned on or off?

[JadeOfMaar]

44 minutes ago, Hypersonic Was Taken Again said:

if such a thing is possible

A shader mod would make it possible. I'm in need of a specific shader and I don't have the skills to make that. I might get Waterfall to do what I want it to but currently I'm having bad luck.

[Hypersonic Was Taken Again]

11 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

I might get Waterfall to do what I want it to but currently I'm having bad luck.

Waterfall is probably the way to go here. Do the engines in this mod have Waterfall configs?  I'm not entirely sure what the Waterfall development environment is like, but the mesh system would probably work. What issues are you having with it?

[JadeOfMaar]

1 hour ago, Hypersonic Was Taken Again said:

What issues are you having with it?

I followed the documentation to add a custom model (which I created) as a selectable default mesh in Waterfall's UI but the model itself doesn't render at all, unlike the default ghostly cylinder. I don't do rigging so I presume the lack of that is why my model is treated as invalid. I've tried using Blueshift as a reference because it contains a few odd use cases of Waterfall. I haven't yet tried asking Angelo Kerman how he got things done.

[Saturn1234]

Would this work with Simplex Kerbalism? Also any recommended tech tree mods with unmanned start?

Edited October 14 by Saturn1234

[JadeOfMaar]

14 hours ago, Saturn1234 said:

Would this work with Simplex Kerbalism?

This is the first time I've been asked about support for [a specific flavor of] Kerbalism. Kerbalism support in general is present (and a bit lacking) but there's no support that's specific to Simplex.

 

14 hours ago, Saturn1234 said:

Also any recommended tech tree mods with unmanned start?

I don't have a recommendation. I'm not aware which particular one is the most popular or (for whatever reason) should get more attention.

 

On 9/23/2024 at 12:33 AM, BSS_Snag said:

would be nice if the front page had a Imgur album or something to show off all the parts in one spot

A Github wiki now exists and features some stats tables for nerds. Critique is welcome.

[sirOrange17]

Does this work well with FFT?

[JadeOfMaar]

7 hours ago, sirOrange17 said:

Does this work well with FFT?

It does. Better batteries for EC storage for and from the fusion reactors; Tanks that can change height and hold (nearly?) all the resources; Wrapper radiators; Radiators that operate at 1600K and are sufficient for the antimatter engines... Those are the obvious points.