Kethane Pack 0.9.2 - New cinematic trailer! - 1.0 compatibility update

[Chestburster]

My config pack already had additional fuels added for 5.1. Should still work with 6.0. Its as easy as you wrote :-)

[KhaosCorp]

Well, latest test has me drilling at 600meters depth. I think this is gonna be the limit for a couple reasons. First I have no way to quickly measure depth past 600meters, and second due to KAS weight limitations it takes a LONG time to drop a drill that deep. But the drill can survive the pressure that deep and its working same as the shallow tests.

Wonder how deep the oceans on Lythe are

[HoY]

Well, latest test has me drilling at 600meters depth. I think this is gonna be the limit for a couple reasons. First I have no way to quickly measure depth past 600meters, and second due to KAS weight limitations it takes a LONG time to drop a drill that deep. But the drill can survive the pressure that deep and its working same as the shallow tests.

Wonder how deep the oceans on Lythe are

There are some spots deeper than 1km but I'm sure there will be deposits shallower than 600m near a shore you want to base from tho a carrier parts pack ship would be a bit too heavy to get there. That's why my plan is for firespitter pontoon based platforms

[KhaosCorp]

There are some spots deeper than 1km but I'm sure there will be deposits shallower than 600m near a shore you want to base from tho a carrier parts pack ship would be a bit too heavy to get there. That's why my plan is for firespitter pontoon based platforms

there is parts in R3 to make a little runabout boat, was gonna use those to build smaller off-shore rigs for Lythe and Eve. I don't think I'm actually gonna mine that deep though....took an hour real-time to get the drill down and back up at 600meters

[Majiir]

Does that mean that you plan on changing that? I'd really like to have multiple inputs and outputs.

Yes, that's the plan. (To clarify for others: this is mainly a coding change, not a parts change.)

I think that using material properties instead of UV colors would be a lot faster indeed, as you will be changing a relatively compact color value instead of setting up UV coordinates for six vertices per node.

This would mean making each hex its own GameObject. There are about ten thousand of them, and that means at least a hundred thousand .NET objects instantiated, and I'd have to update the position and rotation of all ten thousand GameGbjects every frame, whereas now I just update one. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced UVs are faster. :-)

A suggestion for the deposit generation: maybe allow restricting possible deposit locations by altitude? As in, ore deposits in mountains, compressed kerbosaurs on the sea bottom.

This is planned along with a bunch of other features for a new deposit generator. Probably in 0.8? 0.9?

[PringleMan]

there is parts in R3 to make a little runabout boat, was gonna use those to build smaller off-shore rigs for Lythe and Eve. I don't think I'm actually gonna mine that deep though....took an hour real-time to get the drill down and back up at 600meters

You could also utilize the EL mod to build a bigger ship after you got things rolling a little.

[HoY]

there is parts in R3 to make a little runabout boat, was gonna use those to build smaller off-shore rigs for Lythe and Eve. I don't think I'm actually gonna mine that deep though....took an hour real-time to get the drill down and back up at 600meters

What about a stationary "oil rig" with the drills always deployed, and a oil tanker to bring the kethane where it belongs then the drive there and back would be the longest part of the process. This method will probably be how I implement it, and will probably be how I do All of my mining not just kethane.

[KhaosCorp]

What about a stationary "oil rig" with the drills always deployed, and a oil tanker to bring the kethane where it belongs then the drive there and back would be the longest part of the process. This method will probably be how I implement it, and will probably be how I do All of my mining not just kethane.

That's to funny. I was starting to play with leave in place rigs just now. The issue is still the same though, takes forever to deploy the drill to extreme depths. The issue is that KAS winch cant support enough weight to sink the drill very fast at all. My test rig is just the big Kethane drill with a 16ton dead weight I made on the bottom(the drill weights 4tons). As is the winch lets out line twice as fast as the drill rig sinks.

This is me mining Kethane at 603meters depth

[Moon Goddess]

Yes, that's the plan. (To clarify for others: this is mainly a coding change, not a parts change.)

This is planned along with a bunch of other features for a new deposit generator. Probably in 0.8? 0.9?

Both of these make me VERY VERY happy.

[HoY]

That's to funny. I was starting to play with leave in place rigs just now. The issue is still the same though, takes forever to deploy the drill to extreme depths. The issue is that KAS winch cant support enough weight to sink the drill very fast at all. My test rig is just the big Kethane drill with a 16ton dead weight I made on the bottom(the drill weights 4tons). As is the winch lets out line twice as fast as the drill rig sinks.

This is me mining Kethane at 603meters depth

Can't support the weight? Use more winches! Will have to Eva to connect the second and third winch to the extra dead weight but with 3x the winches the weight should be spread out more and hopefully be possible to support more.

[Arrowstar]

Yes, that's the plan. (To clarify for others: this is mainly a coding change, not a parts change.)

This would mean making each hex its own GameObject. There are about ten thousand of them, and that means at least a hundred thousand .NET objects instantiated, and I'd have to update the position and rotation of all ten thousand GameGbjects every frame, whereas now I just update one. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced UVs are faster. :-)

This is planned along with a bunch of other features for a new deposit generator. Probably in 0.8? 0.9?

So will we have the ability to define multiple converter recipes? Any idea when we might see this in Kethane?

[gerryrbd]

I've been using Kethane since I first got the game and I cant imagine playing without it! Great job Majiir!

I use kethane to emulate a career-mode game, and when playing like that kethane isn't unbalanced nor "overpowered" at all - since it requires a substancial amount of work and resources to set the infrastucture, mine it and put it into something useful. (I dont mine from Kerbin btw) If you use unlimited resources/'super-ships' to mine it then there's no point to use it at all, since you have all the resources you want right from the start, and free Nerva engines with high isp.

[Majiir]

So will we have the ability to define multiple converter recipes? Any idea when we might see this in Kethane?

0.7 or 0.8, depending on how those updates shape up. 0.7 will definitely include the new scan map, which means it will also have a new save format for scans. It probably won't have a new deposit generator or a new save format for the actual deposits; I expect that will be a major feature of 0.8. I like to include miscellaneous improvements in every update, and since one of the major features of Kethane is the modding API, that means improving modules.

I use kethane to emulate a career-mode game, and when playing like that kethane isn't unbalanced nor "overpowered" at all - since it requires a substancial amount of work and resources to set the infrastucture, mine it and put it into something useful.

I'm glad to hear it! My goal with Kethane has always been to balance it while keeping it fun.

[Kenobi McCormick]

It seems as though I've finally found a use for Kethane after all these months. It makes an awesome alternative to RTG and solar power for rovers!

I rescaled the generator down from 0.61 to 0.21, changed the mass to 100kgs, dropped the input and output stats accordingly, and tossed it onto one of my small rovers alongside two of the smallest kethane tanks. After brimming it I set off towards the mountains and got there after burning off just 1/8th of a tank....and then clipped a hill at 42m/s, which ripped the ass end off. ahaha.

[asmi]

Majiir, are you planning to add support for "static" resource maps (in which case one can specify exact locations of deposits and their parameters, or provide a PNG map, or some other way)? Think of water deposits on MarsDuna - it makes sence to put them under polar caps.

[TheCardinal]

Perhaps it has been asked before but is the craft file of the exo-jet (video in first post) available somewhere? I would like to experiment with that craft.

[Majiir]

Kethane 0.6.1 has been released. The download link on the first post has been updated.

This update fixes a few issues and makes minor improvements to the modding API.

This update is only compatible with versions 0.6 and 0.5.1. See the 0.6 release notes for information about upgrading from 0.5.

Changes in this version:

• Fixed an issue where deposits would not be reloaded when moving between saves, which could overwrite another save's deposits.
  
• Fixed an issue where scan map colors were scaled from the wrong resource definition.
  
• Fixed an issue where Body nodes would not override scan map colors.
  
• The KethaneDrillAnimator deploy animation is now optional.
  
• Particle effects for the KethaneDrillAnimator are now optional, and multiple particle emitters can be defined for the same label. (KethaneParticleDynamics may still fail with multiple effects using the same label.)

[mereman]

And Majiir goes without sleep again Yet again thanks

Edited June 19, 2013 by mereman
PC can't spell

[Kethane Mining CO.]

I searched KNOWN ISSUES AND FIXES but could not find an answer to why the kethane detectors are not scanning anything and i can't select anything on the ship (all it says is No Target). it wont let me bring up the map or anything. i can only do things with action groups and the detectors still won't do anything. is it possible that Mecjeb (latest version) might be the problem?

[HoY]

You installed the detector on the ship, launched it into orbit, and right clicked on the detector, aaaand? Is there no menu to activate or open map?

[Majiir]

And Majiir goes without sleep again Yet again thanks

Actually, I threw that together after a good 18-hour sleep. It was part of my wake-up routine, I guess.

I searched KNOWN ISSUES AND FIXES but could not find an answer to why the kethane detectors are not scanning anything and i can't select anything on the ship (all it says is No Target). it wont let me bring up the map or anything. i can only do things with action groups and the detectors still won't do anything. is it possible that Mecjeb (latest version) might be the problem?

Are you out of battery power? This sounds like your ship is uncontrollable. Or, you could be in time warp.

[magnemoe]

I searched KNOWN ISSUES AND FIXES but could not find an answer to why the kethane detectors are not scanning anything and i can't select anything on the ship (all it says is No Target). it wont let me bring up the map or anything. i can only do things with action groups and the detectors still won't do anything. is it possible that Mecjeb (latest version) might be the problem?

I have this issue to, however for me the detectors shows 999999 all the time.

Will try this new version, I think most people has mechjeb I uses 2.08

[PringleMan]

I have this issue to, however for me the detectors shows 999999 all the time.

Will try this new version, I think most people has mechjeb I uses 2.08

If you have extraplanetary launchpads installed, that is why you have 999999 showing up. Without changing it out of what is basically debug mode for the ore harvesting, all bodies have one giant ore deposit with 999999 ore. Currently the detector does not read a difference between ore and kethane for the last deposit reading, so everything just says 999999

[zYnthethicz]

Is it possible to get the scan beam to be like ISA mapsats?

[KhaosCorp]

Is it possible to get the scan beam to be like ISA mapsats?

I really hope not! With the current (dev) build of ISA it takes at least 4 times longer to get a usable map than a kethane scanner.