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

[vaughner]

Those files (UnityEngine.dll and Assembly-CSharp.dll) are in KSP/KSP_Data/Managed.

No problem , but don't ask me how to reference them *properly* in MonoDevelop. I have a hard time with MonoDevelop myself...

Okay, not following the "proper" way, how do I hack it into there? I can't see anywhere to point the compiler at the files.

NEVERMIND: Never fails, you "ask for help" and you find it. Sheesh.

Edited June 6, 2013 by vaughner
Doh

[nobody44]

Two suggestions about the main post instead of the plugin itself:

- Add a version or build number, or latest build date to keep track of, and update the main post. Currently I can't tell that the plugin has been updated with new features just by looking at the main post.

- Please specify which KSP versions this is (and isn't) compatible with, at least with 0.20 and 0.20.2 as the currently roaming versions. I assume many users will, like me, have the burning question in mind if they can still use it if they update to 0.20.2.

Will do it now, thanks for the advice.

[gabmaia]

Okay.. Well, i can open your plugin on the loading screen. You should call that a feature!

[nobody44]

Okay.. Well, i can open your plugin on the loading screen. You should call that a feature!

You can't in the newest version. Just uploaded a new version, see first post .

[sim181]

Was just looking at the ideas for getting money back for what's left of a ship. Is there a way to write something like reward = $ + a (a= cost*%) on your own through an editor, or if someone wants to make it in a mission.

[PringleMan]

A suggesting moving forward would be to see if there is somewhat to build in a folder tree for "campaigns"

My idea for the implementation would be a change to the UI that allows for a simple folder browsing for any folders inside of the "missions" folder. These folders could be something along the lines of "Space Race" or "Telecom Development" or something. Mission selection could proceed like normal after that.

Doing this would allow people to make campaign sets of missions without worrying about having a super cluttered UI with tons of missions.

[theSpeare]

I know you've already mentioned something about test vehicles, but can you just give a little bit of customization and let us turn off costs for launches, or temporarily disable the mod? This'd be wonderful, and it's sandbox after all.

[lyndonguitar]

Just a few suggestions:

GOALS. Not only you get missions, but you can have larger goals that always run in background, it's like achievements but with in-game rewards, for example. Mun Space Race: Be the first to Land on the mun and return back safely, to complete this goal, you must do this before "insert date here". Time remaining: "insert T minus here". After you complete this, Another goal appears after some time. (e.g Duna Space Probe Race)

Kethane Selling, You can mine kethane, land the kethane back on Kerbin, sell kethane for lots of $, that would make mining kethane more exciting and useful!

(I know that you currently don't know how to do these things or they are hard to do but i'll put them in anyway)

Contracted Supply Run, A premade "computer-owned" space station will suddenly appear in orbit and will need a supply run, you just have to dock with it and you will be given a reward. When you undock and go away, the spacestation will be removed from the game.

Vessel Rescue/Repairs: Like the idea from above, a random vessel from another space program is in dire need of repairs, All you have to do is rendenzvous with it. go on EVA, go beside the ship, Right click on the vessel and choose "repair ship", mission complete. Also rescue missions, I don't know if the game can check for certain kerbonauts(Stranded Kerbonaut 1, Stranded Kerbonaut 2) inside containers as a condition for mission completion but I hope it does.

EDIT: I'm trying to do some missions myself

Edited June 6, 2013 by lyndonguitar

[lyndonguitar]

I know you've already mentioned something about test vehicles, but can you just give a little bit of customization and let us turn off costs for launches, or temporarily disable the mod? This'd be wonderful, and it's sandbox after all.

Well real-life testing also costs a ton of money, so It would be better if it stays that way. The best solution is to just use the same already tested and proven launch vehicles you've already made.

EDIT: oops sorry double post

[Necrosniper]

>.< .. it allowed me to recycle my vehicle after I landed but before I finished the mission Vostok I... now it says "This is a recycled vessel. You can't finish any missions with this vessel!" and I have 32000k less in my pocket.

[nobody44]

Was just looking at the ideas for getting money back for what's left of a ship. Is there a way to write something like reward = $ + a (a= cost*%) on your own through an editor, or if someone wants to make it in a mission.

This functionality is already implemented. The mission designer can not define how much you get back for vessel, that is hard coded into the plugin. Less balancing problems and fair for those you built expensive SSTOs.

A suggesting moving forward would be to see if there is somewhat to build in a folder tree for "campaigns"

My idea for the implementation would be a change to the UI that allows for a simple folder browsing for any folders inside of the "missions" folder. These folders could be something along the lines of "Space Race" or "Telecom Development" or something. Mission selection could proceed like normal after that.

Doing this would allow people to make campaign sets of missions without worrying about having a super cluttered UI with tons of missions.

I already tried to do that, but KSP does not allow file access outside the PluginData/MissionController directory, even if it is in another subdirectory.

I know you've already mentioned something about test vehicles, but can you just give a little bit of customization and let us turn off costs for launches, or temporarily disable the mod? This'd be wonderful, and it's sandbox after all.

Sure, the next version will have some configuration possibilities.

Just a few suggestions:

GOALS. Not only you get missions, but you can have larger goals that always run in background, it's like achievements but with in-game rewards, for example. Mun Space Race: Be the first to Land on the mun and return back safely, to complete this goal, you must do this before "insert date here". Time remaining: "insert T minus here". After you complete this, Another goal appears after some time. (e.g Duna Space Probe Race)

Kethane Selling, You can mine kethane, land the kethane back on Kerbin, sell kethane for lots of $, that would make mining kethane more exciting and useful!

(I know that you currently don't know how to do these things or they are hard to do but i'll put them in anyway)

Contracted Supply Run, A premade "computer-owned" space station will suddenly appear in orbit and will need a supply run, you just have to dock with it and you will be given a reward. When you undock and go away, the spacestation will be removed from the game.

Vessel Rescue/Repairs: Like the idea from above, a random vessel from another space program is in dire need of repairs, All you have to do is rendenzvous with it. go on EVA, go beside the ship, Right click on the vessel and choose "repair ship", mission complete. Also rescue missions, I don't know if the game can check for certain kerbonauts(Stranded Kerbonaut 1, Stranded Kerbonaut 2) inside containers as a condition for mission completion but I hope it does.

EDIT: I'm trying to do some missions myself

GOALS: This would be possible... have to think about it, its more than it appears.

Kethane Selling: I already had this idea (I also modified the kethane mod, I added a new resource callen Kuranium), but with another new resource. The point is: Kethane doesn't weight very much and therefore it is really easy to get it back to Kerbin (besides the fact that it appears to be a gas. Sure, there are some expensive real life gases out there, but the real money is made with solid resources), but real mining missions should be hard. So the new resource would be very dense (weight much more than Kethane) and can be sold on Kerbins surface.

Contracted supply run: How about a mission that brings up a space station into a very specific orbit (inclined, specified lan) and other, repeatable supply missions. Sure, still have to figure out the docking thing, but I don't have to magically add a new ship and destroy it afterwards (I don't even know if this is possible).

Vessel Rescue: Same problem, I don't know if I can create a new ship in orbit :/... and the action thing requires a vessel part.

>.< .. it allowed me to recycle my vehicle after I landed but before I finished the mission Vostok I... now it says "This is a recycled vessel. You can't finish any missions with this vessel!" and I have 32000k less in my pocket.

Yeah... there should appear a warning or something like that... you can't finish any missions with recycled vessels, even if you have already finished the selected mission. Sorry about that :/.

[tek_604]

[*]resource mining with income. You probably know the Kethane mod, which converts kethane into fuel. With another resource (I modified the kethane mod myself, so this is possible) you will be able to sell the new resource (Kold = Gold) and make money with it.

I'd be interested in collaborating on the money side. I'm working on a set of plugins for resource discovery/return, and have a list of possible elements that can be extracted. Now of course, for propellant usage, this is great, but, the game doesn't give a good enough reason to lump x tonnes of iron back home (for example).

So, if you could write an interface where other modders could say, transfer $x to your mod, it would be great!

[nobody44]

I don't think that we need to hardcode this dependency like you described it... there are other possible solutions.

For example:

You tell me the name of your resource and the density. Once the vessel has landed on Kerbin and there is more than one zero units of your resource in the vessel, there will be a new option: Sell $NAME. The resource will be sold and you get the reward. No need for hardcoded dependency. Sure, I have to hardcode your resources name into my plugin, but no need to exchange interfaces, this could cause serious issues. I could support multiple resources, since all I need is the name and a factor to calculate the reward for one sold unit.

[tek_604]

Sure, I have to hardcode your resources name into my plugin, but no need to exchange interfaces, this could cause serious issues. I could support multiple resources, since all I need is the name and a factor to calculate the reward for one sold unit.

No need for hardcoding AT ALL if you write an interface to transfer money to your mod. This way, the "sale" can be handled by the other mod, at no effort to you at all. No coding, no config files, nothing. The way you propose means anyone adding a resource would have to tell you, and you'd have to compile again. Makes no sense.

Maybe we should talk about this off forum. Feel free to PM me.

[theSpeare]

Well real-life testing also costs a ton of money, so It would be better if it stays that way. The best solution is to just use the same already tested and proven launch vehicles you've already made.

EDIT: oops sorry double post

Even then, a great solution would just be custom configuration. It IS a sandbox, and everyone likes playing their own ways. Also on one hand technically you can do computer-model simulations of your craft etc.

[lyndonguitar]

Even then, a great solution would just be custom configuration. It IS a sandbox, and everyone likes playing their own ways. Also on one hand technically you can do computer-model simulations of your craft etc.

Yes It is a sandbox, but KSP has two modes, Sandbox mode and "Career Mode", this Mission Controller plugin, for all intents and purposes simulates Career Mode, because the real deal is not here yet, this is the closest thing we got so far, and It's pretty neat

If you want to play a sandbox game without costs, don't use this plugin. The "temporarily disable the mod" feature seems a bit too far.

Even computer-model simulations costs some money, to make. It's never free

[Panichio]

The "temporarily disable the mod" feature seems a bit too far.

So would there be no way of only having the Mission Controller in one save? So you could have a Sandbox save and your 'Career' save?

[lyndonguitar]

So would there be no way of only having the Mission Controller in one save? So you could have a Sandbox save and your 'Career' save?

Actually I just realized that, so forget what i just said, disabling the mod is okay lmao

[White Owl]

I am going to have some fun with this! My video series is really stalled out and I was feeling a lack of direction. No more!

I very much agree with the earlier idea of having some separate mission chains/trees. Cooking up some ideas for an aviation mission series before even reaching Sputnik I...

My cheapest ready to go spaceplane costs over ten times the starting budget! Guess I have a reason to build some rockets now. XD

[theSpeare]

Yeah, but especially as this mod is still in alpha, it has its faults. I don't want to have it on all the time especially if I just want to cut out and do something really quickly on the side.

Even if the two modes of "Career Mode" and "Sandbox Mode" are separate this is a mod, and it is single-player. If there's an option on the side to turn off a certain feature, or a certain restriction, then that should just be available. Even just consider it as cheating, like an alt+f12 of sorts.

The idea is that I do want to use this plugin. This plugin is very neat, but there's that one thing that's just a bit off.

And computer-model simulations are in no way as expensive as building a full-scale prototype.

EDIT:

As an actual other suggestion, since the foundations of this plugin is actually pretty damn awesome already, I would like to see support for user-created missions that are user-determined success/failure. This way you can come up with your own mission, come up with your own reward funding, and in the end you can judge for yourself failure or success. This mod would make it so much easier than tracking everything on spreadsheets and whatnot.

Edited June 6, 2013 by theSpeare

[White Owl]

[*]resource mining with income. You probably know the Kethane mod, which converts kethane into fuel. With another resource (I modified the kethane mod myself, so this is possible) you will be able to sell the new resource (Kold = Gold) and make money with it.

Can I suggest that instead of making up a new resource with the umm... controversial first letter K, we instead mine for blutonium, which is already in the game?

[nobody44]

Yeah, but especially as this mod is still in alpha, it has its faults. I don't want to have it on all the time especially if I just want to cut out and do something really quickly on the side.

Even if the two modes of "Career Mode" and "Sandbox Mode" are separate this is a mod, and it is single-player. If there's an option on the side to turn off a certain feature, or a certain restriction, then that should just be available. Even just consider it as cheating, like an alt+f12 of sorts.

The idea is that I do want to use this plugin. This plugin is very neat, but there's that one thing that's just a bit off.

And computer-model simulations are in no way as expensive as building a full-scale prototype.

EDIT:

As an actual other suggestion, since the foundations of this plugin is actually pretty damn awesome already, I would like to see support for user-created missions that are user-determined success/failure. This way you can come up with your own mission, come up with your own reward funding, and in the end you can judge for yourself failure or success. This mod would make it so much easier than tracking everything on spreadsheets and whatnot.

I know that this feature is really important. I just didn't have the time to implement a proper configuration window. It *will* come in the near future.

But I have to say, that I won't make the codebase complicated because of some "cheaters": Deactivate the plugin, activate the plugin after launch, finish a mission and get the reward. Just edit the damn spaceProgram.sp file if you want money.

You already can create your own missions: Project on github, especially goals.md to see how to define your mission goals. Even the first post says, that you can create your own missions .

Can I suggest that instead of making up a new resource with the umm... controversial first letter K, we instead mine for blutonium, which is already in the game?

Of course you can. I discussed this feature with tek_604, it will be up to other addon developers (the kethane mod developer in this case), if he wants to support this plugin (interface to do so will be available).

[White Owl]

Just edit the damn spaceProgram.sp file if you want money.

LOL! I'm actually thinking about cutting the starting budget to almost nothing so I can't even afford a rocket to get out of the atmosphere. Start out with very small, simple aircraft, and goals to reach a certain altitude or airspeed, or land a kerbal at specific coordinates.

Edit: After playing around with numbers a little bit and thinking about things, I suggest making oxidizer much more expensive than liquid fuel. That will better represent the difference in cost between an airplane and a spacecraft.

Edited June 6, 2013 by White Owl

[nobody44]

Of course, you are right. I had it the other way around, don't know why...

So... switching the values for liquid fueld and oxidizer will make rockets sill expensive, but airplanes less expensive. Will do it in the next release!

[White Owl]

Looks like I'm the designated thread spammer for the moment.

Does the recycle option refund 75% of the total launch vehicle cost, or is it smart enough to subtract things like droptanks, SRBs, spent stages, or anything else jettisoned like that?