[0.20.2] Mission Controller v0.10 (06/24/2013) [ALPHA]

[veryinky]

I've found a bug - insurance cost doesn't get saved across reboots. Nobody uses it?

I've set it to 100,000 a while ago and haven't noticed that.

[elkar]

you should hire someone to make up a plot for those missions as a progressive KSP like an actual space program rather than missions with no depth.

[Luxius]

Pretty sure I found a bug in the third mission. I am told to leave the satellite in a stable orbit above the magnetic field of Kerbin, which in the mission parameters is described to be somewhere in between 40 and 120 km above sea level. This is correct, no?

Well, my satellite is right now hovering above Kerbin at a distance of ~100-102 km (apoapsis and periapsis), but the mission parameter saying minimal periapsis should be 40 km is red, while all the others are green. I can't finish this mission.

Has anyone else finished third mission? What am I doing wrong?

[Luxius]

Pretty sure I found a bug in the third mission...

Well, my satellite is right now hovering above Kerbin at a distance of ~100-102 km (apoapsis and periapsis)...

Has anyone else finished third mission? What am I doing wrong?

Bah, I finally read the extra zero. The orbit is supposed to be between 400 and 1200 km. Mission completed.

[Ession]

^*evil moderator ninja -.-

It's between 400k and 1.2mio.

Edited June 27, 2013 by Ession

[Ohdrasil]

I'm kinda new to this game but thought this mod would be a fun way to get more into it. I have however found a problem, whenever I try to get past the first mission (fly up to 70,000 min altitude with some equipment) everything is going well and I reach my goals and everything is green in part 1 of the mission but i cant finish it. When I then fall back down and land safely part 2 of the mission is green but now my altitude is red. I dont understand what im doing wrong. If someone knows what im doing wrong I could really use your help

[itsme86]

I'm kinda new to this game but thought this mod would be a fun way to get more into it. I have however found a problem, whenever I try to get past the first mission (fly up to 70,000 min altitude with some equipment) everything is going well and I reach my goals and everything is green in part 1 of the mission but i cant finish it. When I then fall back down and land safely part 2 of the mission is green but now my altitude is red. I dont understand what im doing wrong. If someone knows what im doing wrong I could really use your help

It shouldn't matter. Once you complete one part of the mission it's done. The objectives might turn red, but as long as they were all green at some point, that part is complete.

[maackey]

If you've temporarily disabled the plugin in the config menu, you can't actually finish missions, because it isn't taking money from you. Re-enable the plugin and it should work fine.

[malkuth]

I put together a mission package that I use with my Current Lets Play Series.

There are Three Story Based Missions In the Pack That will be continued at a later date in there own packs. The Government.. The Research Institute.. And the Commercialization Of Space.

About This Pack.. I made this pack to work along side your Sandbox Games.. The mission payouts are a little high.. Because not only do they pay for the missions.. But they pay for your own missions.. Want to set up a Space Station? Guess what its going to cost you about a Million to do it... And with these missions.. You can pay for it after a few.. Won't be easy.. 1 Mission won't pay for your whole space program.. But they can be edited in the future to fix any issue we might have. So now with Mission Controller you can still do Sandbox.. Only now your going to pay money for those vessels you use.. And trust me... I used some of your vessels they are not cheap.. So good luck.

And yes you can launch vessel and not have a mission selected.. And still pay for it..

________________________________

The Government- Has Some Strange Secret Mission Going on.. And the things they want us to launch make no sense.. Plus they ware black... Its kinda odd.

The Research Institute- These guys are studying the Kerbin system with a brown Box... They keep sending us notes about being careful with them....

The Commercialization Of Space- A Private investor wants to send Regular Citizens to space.. So He has hired us to Design and test a new Space Cruise Line... These missions lead to Repeatable Cruises.. With civilians... Money Time!!

Other Missions- Other standard missions Include.. Communications Satellites, TV, GPS, Telescopes, Image, etc.. All these missions are repeatable with Bonus Goals.. Like extra parts or Inclinations Changes.

________________________________

You Can Download This Pack At these Locations.. Thanks and have fun.. (if you notice anything I missed small bug etc.. Just send me a PM and Ill fix em up right away.)

Update Fixed # 2 6/29/2013.. Fixed LiquidFuel Problems in missions.

Fixed Mission 8 Wrong Orbital Body.. Should Be Mun.. Now it is.

Fixed Bonus Mission Wrong Body Mission 12.. Now should say mun..

#1 Fixed Some Bonus Missions were the Orbital Inclination was reversed, which caused the bonus not achievable.

Download From DropBox

From SpacePort

TIP: Getting a lot of Traffic in your space lanes? After the missions you can delete the vessels you don't want.. End Flight them. Won't have an effect on the mission.. I do see that I can add a Timed Event to ships.. And have used the Client Takes over ship command.. But not sure what those do or not.. Because I still can use the ships.. But for now you can delete them if they cause a system performace after awhile.. Or they clutter up your screen to much..

Edited June 29, 2013 by malkuth

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

I found a bug: With the first Sputnik mission, I had to abort the flight because of spinning. I landed with the probe after a 1.2km Apoapsis and then it asked me to finish the mission. It unlocked Sputnik 2 because of this

[velusip]

Using mass to procedurally assume the cost of uncategorized parts is really handy for getting things off the ground (paronomasia, lol). Perhaps now we can think up interesting cost calculations based on part category. My theory is that by applying a unique formula to every category we should gradually remove the dependency on the generalized 'mass/structure value' (currently 3500 per kilogramme) in the vesselResources loop. Each proposed formula should continue to incorporate mass in their own way. However, the mass offset should not be confused with the average cost of putting mass into LEO/LKO. Think of the mass in terms of an implied cost of producing/purchasing/shipping a part for your rocket. Allow the rocketeer to solve for mass, intrinsically.

* Fuel is the only category that currently does this. e.g. oxidizer cost = 6 * volume. That formula could be expanded to chemical price index * mole density * units ... imagination!

* The engines category is nearly complete, except the mass is calculated outside of the formula (e.g. In a way, engines are currently paid for twice.)

res.engineCost += Math.Pow(e.atmosphereCurve.Evaluate(0) - 200, 2) * e.maxThrust / 1000.0;
--snip--
res.mass += p.mass;

I'd like to hear people's ideas. To get the ball rolling, here's a challenge: Fuel tanks are currently using the convenience of the mass * constant of 3500 formula. We should incorporate the values for breaking force, breaking torque, impact tolerance, max temperature, node attach strength, drag, fuel volume, and mass all modified by offsets for each.

Pods, probes, and Science type parts should be really interesting.

The big idea behind this is for allowing mission packs to specify more such as the offsets for the category formula and even introduce mod-specific resources and their custom offsets. e.g. Good luck paying for cryogenic fuels in a pre-1970s mission pack.

Reference: https://github.com/pweingardt/KSPMissionController/commit/98095ac0935c12676f927eb838015990f6017ba6

Edit: Also forgot to add, I really like this plugin, am having lots of fun with it, and the code is really nice too!

Edited June 28, 2013 by velusip
added in post

[Shan_aman]

Mission 12 optional mission goals 3&4 have the wrong orbital body.

[Shan_aman]

Civilian Space Program

Mission 8 Goal 1 has wrong orbital body.

Mission 13 min. resource Liquidfuel always reads zero no matter how much I have onboard.

P.S. Loving the mod and mission packs!

Edited June 29, 2013 by Shan_aman

[malkuth]

The Civilian Space Program Pack Updated with fixes.. Thanks Shan_aman.

Fixed # 2 6/29/2013.. Fixed LiquidFuel Problems in missions.

Fixed Mission 8 Wrong Orbital Body.. Should Be Mun.. Now it is.

Fixed Bonus Mission Wrong Body Mission 12.. Now should say mun..

Downloads.

Update #1 Fixed Some Bonus Missions were the Orbital Inclination was reversed, which caused the bonus not achievable.

Download From DropBox

From SpacePort

Edited June 29, 2013 by malkuth

[FlexGunship]

My reward isn't being added back into my "current budget". Is there a specific process I need to follow? I got the message that said "you can now end the mission." I just hit "End Mission."

EDIT: Nevermind. "Finish the mission" and "End Mission" are not the same thing. Stinks. I lost a lot of money that way!

Edited June 29, 2013 by FlexGunship

[anaximander]

Using mass to procedurally assume the cost of uncategorized parts is really handy for getting things off the ground (paronomasia, lol). Perhaps now we can think up interesting cost calculations based on part category.!

I'd go with something like this:

Cost = part mass x type modifier x level modifier

To explain what those mean:

- Part mass is self-explanatory.

- Type refers to what sort of part it is. This might be as simple as a modifier for each category - "propulsion", "structural", "aerodynamic" etc, or it could be more specific - "engine", "tank", "fin", "sensor" etc. This basically gets the calculation to take into account the general complexity of the part. For example, structural parts like girders would have a pretty low modifier, while engines would be higher because they're harder to make. Science parts like the sensors might have really high modifiers because their mass is tiny but they're really high-tech, and therefore expensive.

- Level refers to the quality of the part relative to the category. For engines, this would probably be based on Isp and thrust/weight ratio. Thus, a really efficient engine would cost more than a less efficient engine that was the same mass, and an engine with higher thrust at the same efficiency would cost even more. For landing gear, the level modifier might be based on their strength; solar panels might use efficiency, batteries could use storage to mass ratio, etc.

[soranno]

The Civilian Space Program Pack Updated with fixes.. Thanks Shan_aman.

Fixed # 2 6/29/2013.. Fixed LiquidFuel Problems in missions.

Fixed Mission 8 Wrong Orbital Body.. Should Be Mun.. Now it is.

Fixed Bonus Mission Wrong Body Mission 12.. Now should say mun..

Downloads.

Update #1 Fixed Some Bonus Missions were the Orbital Inclination was reversed, which caused the bonus not achievable.

Download From DropBox

From SpacePort

enjoying your mission pack, just a little question.

On mission 8, having to orbit the mun for 8 days before landing, I have been given an altitude requirement of 25km, and so can only use 100x warp... this makes 8 days a loooooong time, being unable to change away from the ship, as the timer resets, and also the mission requirements change..

Perhaps a rethink of the 8 days, and or >50km orbit altitude is in order

other than that, carry on sir!

[MK3424]

enjoying your mission pack, just a little question.

On mission 8, having to orbit the mun for 8 days before landing, I have been given an altitude requirement of 25km, and so can only use 100x warp... this makes 8 days a loooooong time, being unable to change away from the ship, as the timer resets, and also the mission requirements change..

Perhaps a rethink of the 8 days, and or >50km orbit altitude is in order

other than that, carry on sir!

you could just switch to a other vessel, timewarp around 8 days and come back: missioncontroller keeps the clock on the vessel you launched earlier.

[malkuth]

I changed the times a little bit to make it a little less annoying. I would adjust the height instead but... Really wanted them that low for the landing.. Changed to 1 day.

[soranno]

you could just switch to a other vessel, timewarp around 8 days and come back: missioncontroller keeps the clock on the vessel you launched earlier.

It both resets the mission clock for that vessel, and it altered the altitude requirements by a few hundred meters after switching away and back.

Sounds good malkuth. I think it too 2 and a half hours to make the orbits, and did so on livestream some delightful viewers stuck with me throughout the whole thing too hah

Mixing up missions from the various packs makes for some great excitement, especially playing with it set on hard and having such unrelenting construction costs !

Trying to establish the kind of far reaching space program I`ve had in sandbox before is such an awesome challenge I`m inspired to push on and see it through all the more. Even in just today`s play time I`ve seen all kinds of engineering ideas that I would never have otherwise considered!

I should probably add however, that the more extreme challenge elements are coming from having deadly reentry installed, with its also unrelenting level of difficulty (and totally ineffective heatshields, hurray!)

these two plugins make for a fantastic game experience, although I feel the option to switch them off and play freely in the sandbox from time to time is necessary also

looking forward to more of the same!

[velusip]

I broke Mission 4.

Mun I:

* orbit probe around Mun.

* land probe on Kerbin.

My first attempt worked using a tiny final stage with a parachute to come back and land on Kerbin (the complete mission button shows up).

However, my second strategy does not work: The second last stage is a lander and stays orbiting Kerbin with the parachutes and a docking port. The final stage has a docking port, orbits the Mun (completing first prerequisite), returns to rendevouz with lander craft and lands. Even though the "landed" prerequisite is green, the button to complete the mission does not show up. I only get the option to salvage.

I tried this 5 times.

* The first time was a light crash, so I assumed that the probe was not intact and tried again.

* Second time my antenna was knocked off (remote tech) and figured that was the reason.

* The third time I lost the ablative shield (deadly reentry) and thought maybe that caused the problem.

* The fourth time I ran out of power and sent another exact replica of the ship, swapped probe and landers and landed both.

* The fifth time I accidentally threw away the ablative shield when opening a parachute (didn't notice the stages were mixed)

So before I try a 6th time, is there something about these docking ports that causes a problem? I'm playing on hard mode and one more try will put me in the red.

Edited July 1, 2013 by velusip
typo

[SleepyWacKo]

I recently looked into this mod and love the idea, not sure how the devs will input career mode but for now this is a good subsitute. I have also decided it garnered enough of my interest to start working on a mission pack "The Kerbal Space Agency". The missions will be loosely based on real space exploration but with my own twists, I also tend to create missions that require certain mods such as remote tech etc but they will be optional of course. I have only completed 2 missions so far so it's not in a state for release, I am balancing them toward Hard mode also! I will probably release the pack once i get some basic missions in place and then add on from there, my free time is limited too. wish i didn't have to work

[malkuth]

Did some more updates to the missions.. I changed out the Requirements to the Commercialization of mun missions.. Now instead of an orbital period.. (you had to do maths.. LOL) I made it a little easier and just made it time based orbit.

I added a bonus mission for those of you that want to do the maths for a mun based Orbital period mission.. 1 shot mission.. Tell me if you guys like these type of missions and Ill make more.

Malkuth...

Downloads

Download From DropBox

From SpacePort

[soranno]

After working on a space program using this mod for the best part of a week now, and conferring with viewers of my stream etc. I think I have to question the balance of hard mode.

Firstly, choosing hard mode from the beginning is up to the user, so if you don`t want it hard then etc etc.. but the issue is more in relation to costs versus mission rewards. Costs in hard mode balloon up very rapidly, and even basic ships to make orbit cost in the region of 90,000kb to put up, and bring down with something salvagable under deadly reentry conditions. And that`s using a bare minimum of engines, which are the most expensive components. A single skipper engine, for example, costs 55,000kb or so to use when set to hard, an lv-t45 about 18,000kb(the often seen 4x30 and 1x45 engine cluster checks in at about 100 thousand), and even a humble 909 is 6,000kb. Say goodbye to mainsails, as they cost 90,000kb each. Comparing that then to the rewards of various missions, playing on hard just seems to be more grind than it`s worth, as to make any meaningful launch outside the missions requires so much money that you must grind through dozens of satellite launches with some cheaply designed vehicle in order to pay for it.

I did for example, mission 8 of the civilian space program pack, landing unmanned on the mun and returning to kerbin. My vehicle going up cost 90,855kb. The reward for the mission was 90,000kb. I only made some gain off it, because there is 40,000kb in bonuses, 20 of which was for the return... with deadly reentry looming over proceedings, was pretty heart racing

I came up with a fairly bare bones vehicle to launch satellites, just a solid booster and on top a 909 with small tank, and the payload on top with an ant and oscarb. I`m surprised this thing even works but it still costs 30,000kb with nothing recoverable.

I hope you can appreciate the kind of grind that could develop.

Nevertheless, I`m having a whale of a time using this mod and seeing my engineering go in all manner of new directions. I`m thinking I`ll start switching it to easy and use it like a subsidised test mode or something, where I can make flights for testing at reduced cost and then switch back to hard after completing design to attempt missions or make real launches.

The challenge it seems is not just to get through all these missions, but rather to operate the same kind of space program we have all come to enjoy in the sandbox mode up to now, while having to operate within a budget that needs supplementing through commercial missions and government funding for specific tasks. I don`t think anyone wants kerbal`s career mode to be a linear story progression without the room to build and create wonderful things in the way we do now, but rather to experiment and create while within the framework of a system that has budgets, and necessary targets to achieve. Looking at some of the other creations I have worked on in kerbal so far, I very much want to see my space program expand the same way while having costs and budgeting to consider, but without it ever descending into grind after grind at low profit missions by the dozen just so that I can pay for the lifter to get this station component up.

I`ve quite enjoyed looking up some of my past designs and seeing what it would cost to launch them. My established shuttle for kerbin-minmus-mun duty, with launcher was 2 and a quarter million kerbones to launch That`s a lot of tv satellites hah!

Edited July 2, 2013 by soranno

[malkuth]

New Updates to my Mission Pack.. Added the New Commercialization Of Space Mission Expansion Pack to the download.. Now you should have two packs. Civilian space Program and the Commercialization of space.

Also for you KeoSync lovers out there I added a Keosync mission to the Civilian Space Program Pack. Its a general mission so you can use it for anything.. Remote tech.. etc.. Thanks everyone.. And as always if you notice any issues send me a pm.. The missions should work.. But Its hard to test them all by myself.. LOL.. And code them.

Downloads

DropBox

SpacePort

Little Tip for you guys.. If you notice a bug and can't finish the mission. Don't fret.. I have never lost a mission because of a bug.. Because if you tell me I can fix it real quick.. And when you download it again you can fix it in game.. This is how.

Deselect the mission... while still in the same Space Vehicle.

Reload the pack with new update.

Select the mission again and you can continue where you left off.

That simple.. No loss of Money because of bugs.. Only thing you might have to wait for is the fix.. Which I usually get to within the day.. Sometimes the hour.

Only bugs I have no control over is the Mission Controller bugs..

Why does this work? Not sure.. It just does.. Do it all the time when Testing the missions...

Edited July 3, 2013 by malkuth