TAC Fuel Balancer-DISCONTINUED

[Glockshna]

Changes

* Now works with the Toolbar mod from blizzy78. Not required, but if you have it, the icon will be added to the toolbar instead of being by itself.

Download from http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/tac-fuel-balancer-v1-0/

Love you. Thanks!

[Hyomoto]

So useful, but I have two problems. One, the transfer options window opens right above the button that it links to (off to the side instead?) and two it's easy to get said window stuck on the screen. It only disappears if you click on the TAC fuel balancer window, and if you close that window, it will just stay open until you bring it back up and click on it.

[Catullus]

I love the mod, it's brilliant. One of my "won't play without it" mods. Quick feature request - is there any chance we can get a "stop all" button next to the "balance all" button? It's a bit of a pest to have to go through and stop all the transfers and so on if I want to shift stuff around.

[Pyroyoshi]

I also would like to know if it would be possible to request a small additional feature? I would like the ability to quickly select multiple tanks and then change their status all at once. I have 4 mini-monopropellant tanks on each of my 3 probes and its a real pain to right click and lock each of them individually. maybe just a select-all/de-select all button?

[asdfCYBER]

Bug report! The TAC Fuel Balancer icon doesn't show up in the toolbar, rendering the entire mod useless (unless I set visible to true, but that only workes as long as I dont change view to map, go to the VAB etc.)

Is there a fix for it? Otherwise I would like to see a second download link for the version before the toolbar.

[AbeS]

It works all right for me, did you install correctly?

[asdfCYBER]

I did. I have:

Gamedata/TacFuelBalancer/TacfuelBalancer.dll

Gamedata/TacFuelBalancer/Textures/button.png

Gamedata/TacFuelBalancer/PluginData/TacFuelBalancer/FuelBalancer.cfg

Gamedata/TacFuelBalancer/PluginData/TacFuelBalancer/resize.png

Also, new bug (or exploit): Extraplanetary Launchpads allows editing resources on a launchpad on, lets say, Duna.

[AbeS]

Not sure if this it it, but I'm pretty sure it should be GameData\ThunderAerospace\TacFuelBalancer, some things may go wrong if you don't have the correct folders in GameData

[LameLefty]

I also would like to know if it would be possible to request a small additional feature? I would like the ability to quickly select multiple tanks and then change their status all at once. I have 4 mini-monopropellant tanks on each of my 3 probes and its a real pain to right click and lock each of them individually. maybe just a select-all/de-select all button?

This.

One feature added and this mod would be PERFECT.

[royying]

transfer resource from a craft to another docked craft (eg. tanker refuel a rocket) is a painful process,

we have to find out which tank should transfer out or in without any indication

I suggest Fuel Balancer UI add suffix to tank like :

FL-T400 Fuel Tank @ rocket A

FL-T400 Fuel Tank @ tanker B

also,if the UI can group all tank in same craft into 1 tank

refuel mission will be more easy:)

[asdfCYBER]

Not sure if this it it, but I'm pretty sure it should be GameData\ThunderAerospace\TacFuelBalancer, some things may go wrong if you don't have the correct folders in GameData

You're right. I created a map called ThunderAerospace and put the TacFuelBalancer map in it, and it worked. Thanks!

[draeath]

Is there a way for me to exclude resources from operation? Some things are too easily delt with via the fuel balancer mod and I give in to temptation, and others just don't make sense - solid fuel, CO2 and other life-support mod related resources, ablative shielding from FAR and so on.

[TaranisElsu]

Is there a way for me to exclude resources from operation? Some things are too easily delt with via the fuel balancer mod and I give in to temptation, and others just don't make sense - solid fuel, CO2 and other life-support mod related resources, ablative shielding from FAR and so on.

You should not be able to transfer any resources that are not defined as "pump-able". You can edit them before launch, so you could decrease the amount of SolidFuel in boosters prior to launch (not necessary now with tweakables), but it should not allow you to do anything with SolidFuel after launch. Same thing with AblativeShielding (from DeadlyRentry not FAR, right?).

If you are referring to editing the resource amounts while landed on other planets, that was an oversight and will be fixed in the latest version. I meant for you to only be able to edit the resources while landed on Kerbin.

Which other resources are you talking about?

[Jasmir]

If you are referring to editing the resource amounts while landed on other planets, that was an oversight and will be fixed in the latest version. I meant for you to only be able to edit the resources while landed on Kerbin.

Hmm, i'am using release v2.3.0.2, and sometimes (but not every time) I see the edit-button while i'am landed on other celestial bodies. The last time was on Pol or Bop...

[draeath]

You should not be able to transfer any resources that are not defined as "pump-able". You can edit them before launch, so you could decrease the amount of SolidFuel in boosters prior to launch (not necessary now with tweakables), but it should not allow you to do anything with SolidFuel after launch. Same thing with AblativeShielding (from DeadlyRentry not FAR, right?).

If you are referring to editing the resource amounts while landed on other planets, that was an oversight and will be fixed in the latest version. I meant for you to only be able to edit the resources while landed on Kerbin.

Which other resources are you talking about?

Nevermind, I had only tried on the pad and thus it is working as intended. Apologies for wasting your time!

[Hyomoto]

So, I've been using this for a while and I like the mod, it gets the job done and is far more useful than trying to do it stock. That being said, it is a pain in the ass. So I've compiled a few bugs and requests for enhancements that would make it less aggravating.

First off, things that may be (or are) bugs:

- If you close the resources you are currently looking at while you have a part menu open, it won't close at all, even if you click the button in the tool
  bar.  It will only close if you have a resource type selected and click on the window.  If for some reason you get yourself in a situation where you
  have no resources, you cannot close the window at all.
- You can right-click AND left-click through the window to interact with the game world.
- Right-clicking the window moves the window AND the camera.
- I can't find a way to reproduce this, so take it for what it is worth, but I somehow managed to right click the main window and cause it to re-position
  itself off screen.  Not like the above bug as far as I know, it just disappeared.  I had to check the config to find out what happened to it after restarting
  didn't bring it back.

Next up, quality of life enhancements:

- When you click on a button the menu appears where you click and COVERS THE OTHER BUTTONS.  It seems logical to have it appear NEXT to the buttons
  so you don't have to click somewhere else to get it to close, just to click on another resource.  You should just click the button of the resource you want.
- That being said, a second button.  Clicking it would be the same as STOP, but when the part is stopped, it would LOCK.  This would cut down significantly
  on the number of clicks it takes to perform complex operations.  It would also make the menu smaller.
- Just highlight the part while the mouse is over the part in the menu.  Sure, allow the player to select it in the menu if they want, but when you are
  searching for a piece, it takes four clicks per part and is a slow tedious process.  If you wanted to be really fancy, let us point at it on our vessel and
  have it highlight in the list as well.

Let me walk you through why this drives me nuts. Here's a basic resource transfer for say, two parts. Click the button, click transfer out, click the window, click another button, click transfer out. Wait. Click stop. Click the window. Click the other button. Click stop. Click the window. That's ten clicks, minus three I cut out for efficiency and adding any others for highlighting a part, or locking parts you don't want involved in the transfer. The above improvements would reduce that to six. Click button, click transfer out, click button, click transfer out, click stop, click stop. The dedicated lock/stop button combined with automatically highlighting the parts as you mouse over them would make the interface so much faster and more useful.

I hope you'll consider adding these improvements to your mod.

Edited January 18, 2014 by Hyomoto

[TaranisElsu]

So, I've been using this for a while and I like the mod, it gets the job done and is far more useful than trying to do it stock. That being said, it is a pain in the ass. So I've compiled a few bugs and requests for enhancements that would make it less aggravating.

First off, things that may be (or are) bugs:

- If you close the resources you are currently looking at while you have a part menu open, it won't close at all, even if you click the button in the tool
  bar.  It will only close if you have a resource type selected and click on the window.  If for some reason you get yourself in a situation where you
  have no resources, you cannot close the window at all.
- You can right-click AND left-click through the window to interact with the game world.
- Right-clicking the window moves the window AND the camera.
- I can't find a way to reproduce this, so take it for what it is worth, but I somehow managed to right click the main window and cause it to re-position
  itself off screen.  Not like the above bug as far as I know, it just disappeared.  I had to check the config to find out what happened to it after restarting
  didn't bring it back.

Next up, quality of life enhancements:

- When you click on a button the menu appears where you click and COVERS THE OTHER BUTTONS.  It seems logical to have it appear NEXT to the buttons
  so you don't have to click somewhere else to get it to close, just to click on another resource.  You should just click the button of the resource you want.
- That being said, a second button.  Clicking it would be the same as STOP, but when the part is stopped, it would LOCK.  This would cut down significantly
  on the number of clicks it takes to perform complex operations.  It would also make the menu smaller.
- Just highlight the part while the mouse is over the part in the menu.  Sure, allow the player to select it in the menu if they want, but when you are
  searching for a piece, it takes four clicks per part and is a slow tedious process.  If you wanted to be really fancy, let us point at it on our vessel and
  have it highlight in the list as well.

Let me walk you through why this drives me nuts. Here's a basic resource transfer for say, two parts. Click the button, click transfer out, click the window, click another button, click transfer out. Wait. Click stop. Click the window. Click the other button. Click stop. Click the window. That's ten clicks, minus three I cut out for efficiency and adding any others for highlighting a part, or locking parts you don't want involved in the transfer. The above improvements would reduce that to six. Click button, click transfer out, click button, click transfer out, click stop, click stop. The dedicated lock/stop button combined with automatically highlighting the parts as you mouse over them would make the interface so much faster and more useful.

I hope you'll consider adding these improvements to your mod.

Thank you for a very detailed write-up. I really appreciate the input and will look at fixes to those in the next release.

[DerekL1963]

If you are referring to editing the resource amounts while landed on other planets, that was an oversight and will be fixed in the latest version. I meant for you to only be able to edit the resources while landed on Kerbin.

I hope you don't get rid of the "dump" option, I've found it quite useful for various types of testing.

[thobruk]

Hi. I'd love to use this mod, but it doesn't appear to work. I installed it in a vanilla copy of KSP 0.23. I presume the mod shows up as a part I need to add to my craft, but I don't see it anywhere. I've been thru the parts menus a dozen time. When I hit ALT-F2, I don't see any errors in the log. I even see the dll getting loaded in the log, but no part and no errors. What can I do ? TIA !

[AbeS]

there are no parts

[thobruk]

there are no parts

That's an impressively pretty terse response. I must have misunderstood the documentation. On the "How to use" page of the Spaceport download page, it clearly says "Add the part to your vessel. ". How do I use this, then ?

[AbeS]

As you may have noticed, the spaceport isn't updated for most mods. Everything you need is here, in the forums . While flying there should be an icon in your screen that wasn't there before, just click that and it's pretty self explanatory from then on.

[thobruk]

Great ! Once I stopped hunting for a part, I saw the icon when I launched. Maybe when I've got the hang of it, I'll help update the docs. I get that people building these mods give their free time to do so and don't always have the time to keep things straight.

[Beetlecat]

This + Throttle Controlled Avionics = rock solid VTOLs! Thanks.

[JedTech]

Great App! I would love it if it could remember my settings when I come back to a ship.