[1.12.x] Contract Pack: Constellations

[IO]

Create and maintain neatly looking satellite and relay constellations.

Description

Gives you a gameplay reason to create cool looking satellite constellations. Includes:

• Contracts for setting up relays and relay constellations for different celestial bodies. Requires reaching the body first, but allows reusing an existing vessel as the relay (for lesser reward). Required antennae strength is automatically calculated.
• Satellite contract (replaces stock) with a new, custom system for orbit generation. Contracts are split into low, medium, synchronous and high orbits (also polar and kolynia). Contracts notes also include required deltaV for a given orbit (I always find it annoying that I have to either guess, or bring out the calculator).
• Kerbal Positioning System contracts: create GPS-like constellation in multiple stages.
• Contracts for placing Mun relay in quasi-L4/L5 point.
• Contracts for placing SENTINEL telescope in quasi-L3/L4/L5 point of a given celestial body (intended to replace stock SENTINEL).
• Contracts for station-keeping (WIP): you will be periodically asked to fix position of your satellites in a given constellation (or just verify them if they're within margins) for a small reward.
• Player is rewarded for precision with a small bonus. Can you match the orbit with <100m precision? How about <1m?

Contracts that require you to place your craft in a specific position (and not only orbit) unlocks after you perform a rendezvous.

Kopernicus compatible and should work with mods that extend the stock Kerbol system, but also with some more unorthodox planetary systems.

How it works

There's no way to specify an exact position/mean anomaly in the Contract Configurator, only an orbit, so I had to invent one. I wanted the process to be as frictionless as possible to the player, so blindly trying to match mean anomaly was out of the question.

That's why I decided to reuse stock rendezvous system.

Contracts will spawn a marker that you can rendezvous with the same way you rendezvous with a real vessel. That's because it is a sort of a dummy vessel:

just without any visible or physical part.

I recommend to rendezvous with the marker as close as possible first and then match the required orbit. This way the constellation will stay synced the longest.

Dependencies

Contract Configurator v2.9.0.0 (relatively recent version, I had to add a few things to make this pack work)

Module Manager

Download

spacedock

CKAN

github source

Changelog

Spoiler

version 0.4

• Added rescaled agent logos
• Added an alternative KSO relay contract for non-stock Kerbins, adjusted KSO relay follow up to work with both versions
• Added generic satellite constellation contract that becomes available after all non-generic are completed
• Minor balance changes
• Fixed incorrect inclination in both Lagrange point contracts

MIT License

Edited 11 hours ago by IO

[bacontornado]

Looking forward to trying this out later! Since it replaces stock satellite contracts, is this compatible with Clever Sats? 

[Friznit]

Neat.  This is a very nice complement to many missions that you have to do in a career game so will be a great addition.

[IO]

3 hours ago, bacontornado said:

Looking forward to trying this out later! Since it replaces stock satellite contracts, is this compatible with Clever Sats? 

Thanks! There should be no problem in having both installed. Contract Configurator allows pack creators to disable given stock contract type (which both I and clever sats do for stock satellites), but there should be a Contract Configurator tab it in the difficulty settings, where you can override what to enable or to disable. If you want, you can have all three: stock, clever sat and constellations active simultaneously. Similarly, you can disable them at any point and it won't break anything.

[dave1904]

Excellent work. Works great with scaled systems and the delta v requirement is a really nice addition. 

[dave1904]

The only thing that doesnt work for rescaled system is that stock kerbin is required for the geostationary contract. I've edited for myself and simply put in the SMA of my 3.5 rescale system. Had to figure that one out manually.  

[IO]

25 minutes ago, dave1904 said:

The only thing that doesnt work for rescaled system is that stock kerbin is required for the geostationary contract. I've edited for myself and simply put in the SMA of my 3.5 rescale system. Had to figure that one out manually.  

I didn't make it generic because I wanted the relay to be exactly above the KSC. I have no idea how to achieve it without hardcoding the orbit. I probably could make a generic version, for non-stock Kerbins, where the player is free to pick the position of the first relay. Will look into it!

Edited Saturday at 10:24 PM by IO

[urturino]

Hi, i'm having my first L4 Relay contract:

The moon of the contract have a 9° inclination, but the contract want a 0° orbit.

Since the contract want the Relay to stay a full day under 1000 km from the target, the condition can only be satisfied close to AN or DN.

Is it intended to works this way, with the relay close to L4 only 2 times for orbit?  Or it's a bug, since the Relay is not actually in a L4 Orbit as intended?

 

Edited 22 hours ago by urturino

[IO]

10 hours ago, urturino said:

Hi, i'm having my first L4 Relay contract:

The moon of the contract have a 9° inclination, but the contract want a 0° orbit.

Since the contract want the Relay to stay a full day under 1000 km from the target, the condition can only be satisfied close to AN or DN.

Is it intended to works this way, with the relay close to L4 only 2 times for orbit?  Or it's a bug, since the Relay is not actually in a L4 Orbit as intended?

 

It's a bug, should be a quick fix.

EDIT: updated, should be fixed now

Edited 11 hours ago by IO

[urturino]

12 hours ago, IO said:

It's a bug, should be a quick fix.

EDIT: updated, should be fixed now

Thanks.