Jump to content

[WIP] Chemical Technologies - A chemically-based resource overhaul

Charle_Roger

By Charle_Roger
in KSP1 Mod Development

 Share

Recommended Posts

Charle_Roger

Charle_Roger

Posted
  • Author
Posted

5m tanks.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Chemical Storage 0.3.0

  Reveal hidden contents
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JadeOfMaar

JadeOfMaar

Posted
Posted
  On 1/1/2025 at 3:16 AM, Skyliumc258 said:

What does FuelMixer do?

Expand  

It properly lets you dynamically set fuel mixes for a supported engine and takes care of ratios, thrust multiplier and Isp multiplier.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charle_Roger

Charle_Roger

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 1/1/2025 at 5:17 AM, JadeOfMaar said:

If this came out a year ago it would have saved me a lot of trouble making Rational Resources Nuclear Family happen (in case you use that).

Expand  

Would you believe it, your RR Nuclear Family patches were actually one inspiration for FuelMixer.

  On 1/1/2025 at 2:29 PM, WolfieKSP said:

Hello, I'm playing rss, but don't want to play RO or RP1, would this mod be comaptible with any mod that makes engines/fuel tanks optimized for rss?

Expand  

I'm not familiar with RSS stuff, I assume you mean something like SMURFF. I would guess it's incompatible with Chemical Propulsion since it just patches part configs and FuelMixer recomputes tank masses internally. Chemical Storage might be compatible, depends exactly how SMURFF works. Try it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
WolfieKSP

WolfieKSP

Posted
Posted
  On 1/1/2025 at 7:21 PM, Charle_Roger said:

Would you believe it, your RR Nuclear Family patches were actually one inspiration for FuelMixer.

I'm not familiar with RSS stuff, I assume you mean something like SMURFF. I would guess it's incompatible with Chemical Propulsion since it just patches part configs and FuelMixer recomputes tank masses internally. Chemical Storage might be compatible, depends exactly how SMURFF works. Try it!

Expand  

Thank's for the answer, definitely will do

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Charle_Roger

Charle_Roger

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Chemical Propulsion 0.4.1

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
Charle_Roger

Charle_Roger

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

For the last little while my attention has been on improving the FuelMixer plugin, which is much more capable and stable now, despite the fairly short changelog:

FuelMixer 0.2.0

  Reveal hidden contents

 

With FuelMixer 0.2.0 comes quite a significant step forward for Chemical Propulsion and a much longer changelog. It's in a very playable state now and is starting to feel cohesive and complete, probably not long until I tick this one off as v1.0 and start developing Chemical Conversion properly.

Chemical Propulsion 0.5.0

GwoMGso.png

  Reveal hidden contents
Edited by Charle_Roger
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charle_Roger

Charle_Roger

Posted
  • Author
Posted

A quick update to Chemical Propulsion which improves compatibility with many engines in other mods by being a bit more careful with the patches.

Chemical Propulsion 0.5.1

  Reveal hidden contents
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mossconfig

Mossconfig

Posted
Posted

Hi Charle, I love this mod, but with so many components I don't know what's required and what's causing issues. Currently my engines have multiple b9 fuel selection switchers in the VAB, and only one of them seems to work? I've got ChemicalPropulsion, Chemical Core, ChemicalStorage, and FuelMixer installed, and Chemical core and FuelMixer work together well but installing chemical propulsion adds a second fuel selector to the engines.

 

also, you might want to get some communication channels up for when the forums finally die.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charle_Roger

Charle_Roger

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 2/24/2025 at 6:16 PM, Mossconfig said:

Hi Charle, I love this mod, but with so many components I don't know what's required and what's causing issues. Currently my engines have multiple b9 fuel selection switchers in the VAB, and only one of them seems to work? I've got ChemicalPropulsion, Chemical Core, ChemicalStorage, and FuelMixer installed, and Chemical core and FuelMixer work together well but installing chemical propulsion adds a second fuel selector to the engines.

Expand  

So for clarity, there are strictly only two top-level mods here:

  • Chemical Storage (needs Chemical Core)
  • Chemical Propulsion (needs Chemical Core and FuelMixer)

Which engines in particular are not working? Could you show specifically what the fuel selectors look like? Also your mod list would be helpful since there are likely lots more compatibility issues which are yet to be discovered, or which you have just discovered.

  On 2/24/2025 at 6:16 PM, Mossconfig said:

also, you might want to get some communication channels up for when the forums finally die.

Expand  

I have a thread in the KSP Modding Society discord server, which I use more often than the forum: https://discord.gg/XT6MJTDu
I'm mostly just using the forums to publish pre-releases at this point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mossconfig

Mossconfig

Posted
Posted

This is the game with  Chemical Core and FuelMixer, no Chemical Propulsion.

  Reveal hidden contents

Here is the game with all three, Chemical Propulsion, Chemical Core and FuelMixer.

  Reveal hidden contents

see that there's a second propellant/oxidizer switcher?

Here's my modlist.

  Reveal hidden contents

also, about the additional communication lines you might want to put refrences to the discord in your readme file, github.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charle_Roger

Charle_Roger

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 2/25/2025 at 4:24 PM, Mossconfig said:

see that there's a second propellant/oxidizer switcher?

Here's my modlist.

Expand  

I notice that you have both the new "Chemical" mods and the old "Immersive Chemical" mods. Confusion here is understandable since I changed the name on a whim because I never really liked the original (which I came up with on another whim). Removing the old ones should fix your problem. You might also need to delete the module manager cache files (in GameData).

Thanks for having a go with these mods despite their volatility. Your testing is very valuable to getting these things stable since I've never properly released a mod before and I don't quite know what to expect yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DareMightyThingsJPL

DareMightyThingsJPL

Posted
Posted

I'm not sure whether this fits the mod, but would fuel-switching for electric engines be a future possibility?

You wouldn't have to add your own new resources, but you could - CRP has gaseous and liquid versions of neon, argon, krypton and xenon. But it doesn't have mercury, and early ion propellant.

I imagine quite a bit of thought would have to go into this - both propellant mass and ionization energies would have to be factored in to keep realism.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charle_Roger

Charle_Roger

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
  On 2/26/2025 at 6:02 AM, DareMightyThingsJPL said:

I'm not sure whether this fits the mod, but would fuel-switching for electric engines be a future possibility?

You wouldn't have to add your own new resources, but you could - CRP has gaseous and liquid versions of neon, argon, krypton and xenon. But it doesn't have mercury, and early ion propellant.

I imagine quite a bit of thought would have to go into this - both propellant mass and ionization energies would have to be factored in to keep realism.

Expand  

I originally intended to only modify chemical rockets, since this is Chemical Propulsion after all. I also think that different propellants are generally best handled by constraining them to different parts, as Chemical Propulsion does. The exotic fuel and oxidizer switching are late game upgrades that serve as analogues of individual conventional propellants, and I may end up splitting them into a separate mod, since propellant switching is not really part of the core experience intended for this mod. With this in mind I consider ion engines a solved problem already and I won't do any noble gas switches for ion engines, I like Near Future Propulsion's bespoke argon engines.

All of that being said, I have also added hydrogen/methane/ammonia switching for NTRs, with the latter options trading isp for thrust and propellant volume, so I'm not completely opposed to featuring non-chemical rockets. I've replaced the MonoPropellant in Supplementary Electric Engines with hydrazine, but I might also add an ammonia mode once I get FuelMixer to support the more complex propellant combinations.

Edited by Charle_Roger
Link to comment
Share on other sites
DareMightyThingsJPL

DareMightyThingsJPL

Posted
Posted
  On 2/26/2025 at 9:18 AM, Charle_Roger said:
  On 2/26/2025 at 6:02 AM, DareMightyThingsJPL said:

I'm not sure whether this fits the mod, but would fuel-switching for electric engines be a future possibility?

You wouldn't have to add your own new resources, but you could - CRP has gaseous and liquid versions of neon, argon, krypton and xenon. But it doesn't have mercury, and early ion propellant.

I imagine quite a bit of thought would have to go into this - both propellant mass and ionization energies would have to be factored in to keep realism.

Expand  

I originally intended to only modify chemical rockets, since this is Chemical Propulsion after all. I also think that different propellants are generally best handled by constraining them to different parts, as Chemical Propulsion does. The exotic fuel and oxidizer switching are late game upgrades that serve as analogues of individual conventional propellants, and I may end up splitting them into a separate mod, since propellant switching is not really part of the core experience intended for this mod. With this in mind I consider ion engines a solved problem already and I won't do any noble gas switches for ion engines, I like Near Future Propulsion's bespoke argon engines.

All of that being said, I have also added hydrogen/methane/ammonia switching for NTRs, with the latter options trading isp for thrust and propellant volume, so I'm not completely opposed to featuring non-chemical rockets. I've replaced the MonoPropellant in Supplementary Electric Engines with hydrazine, but I might also add an ammonia mode once I get FuelMixer to support the more complex propellant combinations.

Expand  

Yes, i think you have a good point with the ion engines. Have you thought about cold gas thrusters? I think the Isp is too low for serious consideration, although their commonality in real world reaction control systems is a good case for their addition plus literally any propellant can be used.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charle_Roger

Charle_Roger

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 2/26/2025 at 9:47 AM, DareMightyThingsJPL said:

Have you thought about cold gas thrusters?

Expand  

They could probably have a niche, especially in life support systems that have waste products. No plans for them though, again I think they should have bespoke parts. If someone wants to make a decent cold gas thruster mod then I'll absolutely support it with some patches and a FuelMixer switch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JadeOfMaar

JadeOfMaar

Posted
Posted
  On 2/26/2025 at 9:47 AM, DareMightyThingsJPL said:

Have you thought about cold gas thrusters? I think the Isp is too low for serious consideration, although their commonality in real world reaction control systems is a good case for their addition plus literally any propellant can be used.

Expand  

LinuxGuruGamer had a mod for finite jetpack fuel and switching said fuel. I was onboard with using Nitrogen (with reference to Kerbalism) but the mod broke when it became possible to unequip the jetpack. Aside from jetpack fuel where or how do you think this could settle itself in as a worthwhile gameplay element?

 

  On 2/26/2025 at 10:46 AM, Charle_Roger said:

No plans for them though, again I think they should have bespoke parts.

Expand  

It would be very kerbal (under Kerbalism) to have such parts and casually vent atmosphere (Nitrogen) to reorient a station or oncoming crewed transfer vehicle. :D (But Carbon Dioxide if orbiting such a planet -- Eve or Duna, would be quite a thing too.)

Rational Resources does contain distinct gas tanks for use by Kerbalism, and some cold gas thrusters (cloned stock) within its demo parts so @DareMightyThingsJPL if inclined enough, could tool around and apply your mod to them. RR RCS Family also exists and has an Isp data table that can be used for reference. It still uses common liquid resources and not their gas forms because outside of Kerbalism it's a bit of a nuisance to make wide use of gas and liquid forms of several resources.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DareMightyThingsJPL

DareMightyThingsJPL

Posted
Posted
  On 2/26/2025 at 7:54 PM, JadeOfMaar said:
  On 2/26/2025 at 9:47 AM, DareMightyThingsJPL said:

Have you thought about cold gas thrusters? I think the Isp is too low for serious consideration, although their commonality in real world reaction control systems is a good case for their addition plus literally any propellant can be used.

Expand  

LinuxGuruGamer had a mod for finite jetpack fuel and switching said fuel. I was onboard with using Nitrogen (with reference to Kerbalism) but the mod broke when it became possible to unequip the jetpack. Aside from jetpack fuel where or how do you think this could settle itself in as a worthwhile gameplay element?

Expand  

Good point. We already have the much better performing monoprops, so apart from paralelling real world mssions, there would be no in-game reason to use cold-gas thrusters if  they were added.

 

  On 2/26/2025 at 7:54 PM, JadeOfMaar said:

It would be very kerbal (under Kerbalism) to have such parts and casually vent atmosphere (Nitrogen) to reorient a station or oncoming crewed transfer vehicle. :D (But Carbon Dioxide if orbiting such a planet -- Eve or Duna, would be quite a thing too.)

Rational Resources does contain distinct gas tanks for use by Kerbalism, and some cold gas thrusters (cloned stock) within its demo parts so @DareMightyThingsJPL if inclined enough, could tool around and apply your mod to them. RR RCS Family also exists and has an Isp data table that can be used for reference. It still uses common liquid resources and not their gas forms because outside of Kerbalism it's a bit of a nuisance to make wide use of gas and liquid forms of several resources.

Expand  

Thanks for the proposition, but I'll decline - I don't trust myself well enough to write enough code for entire new parts and fuel-switching. Also thanks for pointing out RR's RCS Family! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...