[0.22] Extraplanetary Launchpads Legacy Thread

[doubleg]

Great Mod. I've been using it for a while in conjunction with Kethane and I'm loving it. Two thing I've noticed however is that the planet's ore doesn't seem to deplete when I drill either (not a big deal for me since there's something like 45 million tons in my current location so I'd never run out either way). Also I tried setting up a launchpad on Minmus but launched vehicles would always fall through the surface of the planet if they were even the slightest bit heavy (the biggest I successfully launched was a one man rover but I didn't test much since I was mainly interested in launching heavier craft which all fell).

[Hesh]

My smelter literally explodes when the parachutes fully open to drop it on Laythe. Not like, oh the chutes broke off and it crashed... the smelter just explodes. Any ideas? Gonna cook up another one with a fully powered descent and see if it still happens.

[taniwha]

mihara: very nice. I didn't think of recycling to help with my bootstrap, but my seed is so tiny (8.1t of metal), that it wouldn't make much difference yet. Due to various reasons I've so far built only a small hemisphere parts tank. Next will be a medium parts tank and I'll be able to build a miner/smelter (small smelter and small drill). I'm play-testing some of my changes before publishing them

BigNose: it doesn't do animations yet, but you're welcome to try your hand at making some

doubleg: no idea what would be going on with your heavier ships, though launch clamps might help (they can be recycled).

doubleg and Kielm: are you sure the deposits aren't depleting? Deposits are usually so big it might not be obvious. If there is a bug, it will be in Kethane as it handles all resource extraction. BTW, the units are resource volume units (5l for EL and stock fuel, 2.5l for Kethane).

[PhilMcgroin]

As far as I know, mass does not affect framerate. My suggestion: don't mount the tanks on anything. At most, put some stabilizing legs around the tanks such that the legs just touch the ground when the tank is resting on the ground. That way it won't fall over, but the legs won't be supporting the full weight.

If you think a half-full medium tank is scary, check out the full mass of the large tanks .

It just seems weird that empty, everything runs fine. Then as I mine ore and convert it to metal, the more the tanks fill, the progressively slower everything gets, until KSP is using the full 0.3 physics time, and still dropping frames. I think I'm just going to have to get everything in place empty, then mine/convert/create all at once on the spot, instead of my previous plan of transporting resources.

[Whackjob]

I might as well ask here also. How do I put materials into the launchpad to build? I don't need another mod to do that, do I?

Do I have to have a docking point on it? Do I just need materials in a certain AoE? How does this work? I haven't got the foggiest idea!

Edited September 12, 2013 by Whackjob

[Mekan1k]

.... THINGS ARE STILL EXPLODING!!!! I am going to start systematically removing things.... Again.

[taniwha]

Mekan1k: Which launchpad are you using? Do things start out above the pad and then get driven to the ground before exploding? Have you tried using launch clamps to keep your vessel above the pad (they can be recycled)?

[Mekan1k]

Picture of The Detonation:

As long as something is keeping the craft above the ground, it will not explode. However, if it is released (I released it from the docking clamps for the test) it will stay frozen in mid-air, and 2 seconds later it will appear within the ground.

(I am using the spherical launchpads and the ones that come with built-in rockets.)

This causes the violent disassembly I captured in the picture.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Mekan1k

[taniwha]

How long did you wait between spawning and releasing? It might be hard to tell on Minmus, but you should wait until the clamps are actually supporting the weight of the vessel.

I've so far built 2 parts tanks, a mini miner/smelter, a tiny solar array, and an RTG+KAS unit with no trouble.

[Mekan1k]

Another explosion.

Smaller rovers worked fine... Lets see if I can create a low-part larger structure with VERY FEW PARTS. Less than 50 parts should do it...

[Kielm]

Definitely not depleting. I know the deposits are huge but the numbers aren't changing...

[Mekan1k]

I found one problem: If your craft is not mostly-symmetrical, the launchpad will explode it.

[taniwha]

I'm interested more in shots of the craft before the explosion rather than after.

[taniwha]

Doesn't matter. I had trouble with building a crane last night, so I was able to do some testing. Better yet, I got it working.

The rescaled smelter and auger seem to work well, so once I've done some tweaks to the recycler, I'll do up another release.

[Zeroignite]

Hmm, question: is there a way to create ships with non-transferable mod resources without resorting to debug mode? I run DeadlyReentry, and just realized that any Ablative Shields I try to install will build devoid of any, well, shielding. How does EPL currently handle SolidFuel?

[skykooler]

Hmm, question: is there a way to create ships with non-transferable mod resources without resorting to debug mode? I run DeadlyReentry, and just realized that any Ablative Shields I try to install will build devoid of any, well, shielding. How does EPL currently handle SolidFuel?

SolidFuel is currently hard-coded as a special case; it uses an equivalent mass of RocketParts for it, iirc.

[taniwha]

Zeroignite: thanks for the reminder that I need to make all non-pumpable resources treated the same way as SolidFuel (which is as skykooler described: special cased as rocketparts).

[Mihara]

Zeroignite: thanks for the reminder that I need to make all non-pumpable resources treated the same way as SolidFuel (which is as skykooler described: special cased as rocketparts).

You need a config file where the user could tell the plugin what to do with every particular resource, methinks. It would make a lot of sense to set different rates of rocketparts-to-resource conversion in at least some cases.

[taniwha]

You need a config file where the user could tell the plugin what to do with every particular resource, methinks. It would make a lot of sense to set different rates of rocketparts-to-resource conversion in at least some cases.

For non-transferable resources, that's already in the resource definition: transfer = PUMP/NONE and even flowMode = ALL_VESSEL/STACK_PRIORITY_SEARCH/NONE.

However, yes indeed, config files will be needed when more sophisticated resource handling is added.

TBH, I don't particularly like "rocket parts": a little too generic for my taste.

[Zeroignite]

Zeroignite: thanks for the reminder that I need to make all non-pumpable resources treated the same way as SolidFuel (which is as skykooler described: special cased as rocketparts).

Cool. Any chance we could get that as a hotfix, or will we just have to wait until the next version is ready? I'm planning to send an armada to Duna, and my launch window is in 11 days.

[Mihara]

TBH, I don't particularly like "rocket parts": a little too generic for my taste.

With the way there are no reasonable means to assess the composition of any given part, and costs all over the place are out of whack, that is the only sensible option at the moment, though.

[Tex_NL]

Question:

How in the name of Jool do I get from Ore to Rocket Parts?

I have both EL v3.1 and Kethane 0.7.7 installed. I have a launchpad on Minmus that is capable of spawning new vehicles but I can't get any ore processing going. Please show me some working set-ups. An answer like 'use this and this part in such and such way' won't help me. I've already tried everything I can come up with. I need details.

[taniwha]

Zeroignite: I expect one will be out soon.

Mihara: yeah, have to live with it for now.

Tex_NL: Sorry, I don't have any pics ready, but you'll find plenty in the thread.

You use an auger to extract ore and a smelter to convert ore to metal. The smelter comes with sufficient storage for both to make a good start. They are both in the utilities section.

You then use the Kerbal Rocket Workshop (in the command section) to convert metal to parts. You will need a lot of tankage for parts as 1t of parts requires 400u of storage. The huge hexcan holds enough for 4.25t of parts.

While it's possible to build everything into the one vessel, flying such would be very difficult. KAS is recommended for attaching the various vessels together.

[taniwha]

Ok, a bit of an update on what to expect in the next version.

• I plan on making non-pumpable resources (eg, ablative shielding) need (and recycle to) rocketparts. I'll probably do this tomorrow.
  
• I have made it such that if kethane is not installed, the pads automatically go into debug mode. Thus I have removed the setting from the config files.
  
• I've added a small smelter based on the one posted, but with some tweaks. I don't remember who it was, but thank you.
  
• I've also added a small auger.
  
• I believe I have fixed the explosions from craft getting forced through the pad when physics kicks in. This means launch clamps should be needed much less often, which is a good thing considering...
  
• The "recycle debris" option is now gone from parts with the Recycler module added. Instead, there is now "activate" and "deactivate" recycler (along with a status indicator). Note, however, that unless the recycler part has the appropriate trigger collider (Untagged, layer 0), the recycler will not work. There is a new recycler part (a blue bin) that does the job. Do not allow children or animals to play near the recycler.
  

The changes I've actually done have been pushed to my github repository. Those of you who wish to test will need to build it yourselves. However, I expect to do a release soon, once I get the non-pumpable resources being handled properly.

[Tex_NL]

Tex_NL: Sorry, I don't have any pics ready, but you'll find plenty in the thread.

You use an auger to extract ore and a smelter to convert ore to metal. The smelter comes with sufficient storage for both to make a good start. They are both in the utilities section.

You then use the Kerbal Rocket Workshop (in the command section) to convert metal to parts. You will need a lot of tankage for parts as 1t of parts requires 400u of storage. The huge hexcan holds enough for 4.25t of parts.

While it's possible to build everything into the one vessel, flying such would be very difficult. KAS is recommended for attaching the various vessels together.

The auger: it doesn't do anything for me. I can click deploy and retract but it doesn't move.

Smelter: Again, it doesn't do anything. I link it directly to a container WITH ore and an empty metal container AND supply it with plenty of power but it doesnt do anything.

RocketParts: How do I convert anything to rocket parts?

Really? You expect me to dig through 125 pages in search of flawed, outdated and unclear images? I already did that.