Firespitter propeller plane and helicopter parts v7.1 (May 5th) for KSP 1.0

[Boomerang]

So does the Water Launch System actually work? I've tried two totally clean installs of Firespitter with the timer setting on the unit all the way to sixty seconds (and 45 seconds, and 20, and 5) and everytime, my craft spawn in the water for a couple seconds, then when physics load, the water goes dark then it explodes at the normal launch point on the runway.

I'm running other mods but very few other plugins and the ships I'm trying to launch are strictly Firespitter and stock parts.

[zack2014]

I gave it several minutes actually, and the pop-up dialogue menu said that it was pitching correctly, but it produces no thrust, and it reads no thrust in the SPH as well.

[Snjo]

So does the Water Launch System actually work? I've tried two totally clean installs of Firespitter with the timer setting on the unit all the way to sixty seconds (and 45 seconds, and 20, and 5) and everytime, my craft spawn in the water for a couple seconds, then when physics load, the water goes dark then it explodes at the normal launch point on the runway.

I'm running other mods but very few other plugins and the ships I'm trying to launch are strictly Firespitter and stock parts.

Unfortunately, the water launch simply doesn't work for some people. It's one of those things that are nice to have if it works, but that there is no way to fix if it doesn't.

I gave it several minutes actually, and the pop-up dialogue menu said that it was pitching correctly, but it produces no thrust, and it reads no thrust in the SPH as well.

We'll just have to wait and see what curious bugs appear when I replace the code on that rotor again

[camlost]

Quick question:

Can I use FSWheel to replace stock rover wheels?

[Snjo]

Quick question:

Can I use FSWheel to replace stock rover wheels?

No. While FSwheel is compatible with stock landing gear, the rover wheels have a different suspension setup. If you used the FSwheel module, the wheels would roll, but nothing else would work.

You could of course make new rover wheels using FSwheel, but it only supports the simple visual suspension setup. (InfiniteDice's wheels use a reworked FSwheel and does a lot of advanced stuff without the crazy multi-part visual suspension)

Edited June 3, 2014 by Snjo

[Boomerang]

Unfortunately, the water launch simply doesn't work for some people. It's one of those things that are nice to have if it works, but that there is no way to fix if it doesn't.

Thanks for the feedback. I suppose I'll just edit the persistence file if I really want to drop something straight into the drink. Or maybe finally give Hyperedit a whirl. Just playing around on a flight-sim-ish save anyway.

[Snjo]

The documentation for the mesh, fuel and texture switcher modules is done:

http://tiny.cc/fsdoc

[DisarmingBaton5]

Snjo, do you plan to include skillful compatibility in a future update?

[mike9606]

Skillful already has a file built in to add Firespitter support.

[Snjo]

Snjo, do you plan to include skillful compatibility in a future update?

InfiniteDice has tested quite a bit with my parts, so they get destroyed just fine

In addition, he included an ability to do custom damage code for other modders in their own plugins. When a part takes damage, I can read that info from an ApplyDamage(float normalizedHealth) kind of function, and do funny stuff based on that.

Right now, the only parts that do anything with this info are the wings. When they take damage, the control surface response gets nerfed, and if it's totally damaged, but not eploded, the surfaces jam.

If you have any other ideas for interesting ways to break parts when taking damage, do tell

[Taverius]

Damages engines IRL have reduced thrust and overheat more, so that's easy. Piston engines also have erratic thrust (less trivial to implement)

Landing gear bottoms out (damaged suspension), loses grip, the wheel axle seizes (maybe it can be done by forcing the brake always on), and will not extend/retract.

Tanks lose resources from leaks.

[Albert VDS]

@Snjo:Simple request for the texture Switching modules:

Could you add a "textureFolder = /modDir/dataFiles/" and there by removing the requirement for typing out the location path for each texture name?

So it would end up something like this:

textureFolder = /modDir/Parts/partA/images/

textureNames = textureA;textureB;textureC;textureD

That way you wont have the location cluttering up the module configuration.

[Snjo]

@Snjo:Simple request for the texture Switching modules:

Could you add a "textureFolder = /modDir/dataFiles/" and there by removing the requirement for typing out the location path for each texture name?

So it would end up something like this:

textureFolder = /modDir/Parts/partA/images/

textureNames = textureA;textureB;textureC;textureD

That way you wont have the location cluttering up the module configuration.

Now THAT is a good idea

Of course, if you use textures from several folders you would have to leave it blank or truncated, but you could at least put the for isntance "MyMod/Parts/" in there to skip that part of it.

[Taverius]

call it textureRoot then

P.S. relevant

[Madrias]

Perhaps you could use your texture code when Skillful damages a cockpit to put bullet holes in the cockpit glass? Tanks leak, batteries lose charge and start to get hot, landing gear seizes up (brake locked on) or gets stuck at midpoint of retract/extend cycle. Nose props overheat much faster and lose thrust when damaged (playing their Inline Liquid-Cooled counterparts), while the big Radial props tend not to overheat as bad, but lose thrust more aggressively when damaged (like an air cooled radial). Rotors could be forced into autorotation, making it necessary to know how to do unpowered landings. Bomb bay doors could get jammed shut, preventing bombing runs. A hit to either the Nose ASAS for the Attack Helicopter Cockpit or the little "gumball" ASAS computer could (not sure how to do it, but it's an idea) jam the SAS on full in a random direction, forcing one to build aircraft they can fly manual. Hit engines could spray oil, possibly covering and blacking out cockpits, making IVA much more difficult. Floats get holes in them and lose flotation capability. Get enough holes in the floats and they might become sinkers. Maybe a battery that gets badly damaged by continuous fire could outright explode, or an overheating battery could blow up? Or possibly damaged batteries short out and zero all electrical power on the craft... that might actually be a fun idea.

[Snjo]

Damages engines IRL have reduced thrust and overheat more, so that's easy. Piston engines also have erratic thrust (less trivial to implement)

Landing gear bottoms out (damaged suspension), loses grip, the wheel axle seizes (maybe it can be done by forcing the brake always on), and will not extend/retract.

Tanks lose resources from leaks.

Perhaps you could use your texture code when Skillful damages a cockpit to put bullet holes in the cockpit glass? Tanks leak, batteries lose charge and start to get hot, landing gear seizes up (brake locked on) or gets stuck at midpoint of retract/extend cycle. Nose props overheat much faster and lose thrust when damaged (playing their Inline Liquid-Cooled counterparts), while the big Radial props tend not to overheat as bad, but lose thrust more aggressively when damaged (like an air cooled radial). Rotors could be forced into autorotation, making it necessary to know how to do unpowered landings. Bomb bay doors could get jammed shut, preventing bombing runs. A hit to either the Nose ASAS for the Attack Helicopter Cockpit or the little "gumball" ASAS computer could (not sure how to do it, but it's an idea) jam the SAS on full in a random direction, forcing one to build aircraft they can fly manual. Hit engines could spray oil, possibly covering and blacking out cockpits, making IVA much more difficult. Floats get holes in them and lose flotation capability. Get enough holes in the floats and they might become sinkers. Maybe a battery that gets badly damaged by continuous fire could outright explode, or an overheating battery could blow up? Or possibly damaged batteries short out and zero all electrical power on the craft... that might actually be a fun idea.

That's a lot of cool ideas. Thanks!

On the list

[DisarmingBaton5]

Maybe wings lose lift, fuel tanks leak, and pilots are killed when the cockpit is hit? (not sure how to implement that last one :I)

[Taverius]

pilots are killed when the cockpit is hit? (not sure how to implement that last one :I)

DRE does it when the g-forces get too high, so its certainly possible, I'm not sure if its easy.

[Snjo]

Last time I tried to move kerbals around between parts, I broke the ability to load not just that save, but ALL saves.

So I'm not going to introduce something that is that prone to severe bugs and therefore requires huge amounts of testing. If you get enough shots in you, you will die anyway, either because the cockpit explodes, or you hit the ground.

(Yes, yes, I know the cockpit tends to survive, don't remind me)

[Snjo]

Added the texureRootFolder value to the plugin

// Optional: this text will be added to each the start of each entry in the textureNames and mapNames lists to make them neater. If you have textures in different folder, this value should be the lowest common folder. Each entry is treated like textureRootFolder + textureNames

textureRootFolder = MyMod/Parts/MyPart/

// a list of textures, matching their names in the GameDatabase

textureNames =green;red

// An optional list of normal maps, or other maps such as specular to switch at the same time as the texture. If there are no textures in the textureNames list, you can switch just the normal map.

mapNames =green_NRM;red_NRM

[Albert VDS]

Thanks, that's so much better.

[camlost]

Hello Snjo, I was trying to use FSengine in my code.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using UnityEngine;
using KSP;
using Firespitter.engine;

namespace AJE
{
    public class EngineWrapper
    {
        public enum EngineType
        {
            NONE,
            ModuleEngine,
            ModuleEngineFX,
            FSengine
        }
        public EngineType type = EngineType.NONE;
        public ModuleEngines engine;
        public ModuleEnginesFX engineFX;
        public FSengine fsengine;

//...

The compilation passed under .NET 3.5 but in the log I have

[ERR 20:05:41.155] AssemblyLoader: Exception loading 'AJE': System.Reflection.ReflectionTypeLoadException: The classes in the module cannot be loaded.

at (wrapper managed-to-native) System.Reflection.Assembly:GetTypes (bool)

at System.Reflection.Assembly.GetTypes () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at AssemblyLoader.LoadAssemblies () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

Additional information about this exception:

System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'AJE.EngineWrapper' from assembly 'AJE, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.

If I delete the declaration "public FSengine fsengine;" everything's fine. I wonder what's causing this

[Gotcha]

My SKP crash when installing Firespitter... i try with the v6.3 from the page 1, and then with v6.4 PRE2... i always crashing.

What is happening ? any help?

I copy the entire "firespitter" folder to my ksp/gamedata... like instructions says.

[Snjo]

Hello Snjo, I was trying to use FSengine in my code.

[...]

The compilation passed under .NET 3.5 but in the log I have

[ERR 20:05:41.155] AssemblyLoader: Exception loading 'AJE': System.Reflection.ReflectionTypeLoadException: The classes in the module cannot be loaded.

at (wrapper managed-to-native) System.Reflection.Assembly:GetTypes (bool)

at System.Reflection.Assembly.GetTypes () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at AssemblyLoader.LoadAssemblies () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

Additional information about this exception:

System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'AJE.EngineWrapper' from assembly 'AJE, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.

If I delete the declaration "public FSengine fsengine;" everything's fine. I wonder what's causing this

Hmmm, there's nothing special about my bools, but the class is meant to be extended internally, so it has some protected fields, maybe that triggers something. You could try recompiling my dll with those set to public.

Also it uses namespaces, maybe that triggers something?

My SKP crash when installing Firespitter... i try with the v6.3 from the page 1, and then with v6.4 PRE2... i always crashing.

What is happening ? any help?

I copy the entire "firespitter" folder to my ksp/gamedata... like instructions says.

Hard to say, may be a conflict with another mod. Put you KSP_Win\KSP_data\output_log.txt on pastebin or something like that, and maybe there's some info there.

[Gotcha]

yep... it seems to be that, a conflict with other mod, cause i reinstall ksp from the begining just installing firespitter and work fine. I need to discover what mod is conflicting with.

edit: none of those things i says was the problem... the real problem was the memory that KSP supports. Because of my mods that exceeds memory that KSP support.

Edited June 9, 2014 by Gotcha