[1.2] Procedural Fairings 3.20 (November 8)

[bludclot]

Here is a video where I'm showing Procedural Fairings and Procedural parts some love.

Procedural fairings used to make the engine clusters, the payload fairings and escape system as well as service compartments for the various rocket stages.

Rocket shape made from procedural parts.

I don't launch any rockets without this addon!

Thanks!

[eightiesboi]

Amazingly done... I may just have to link to your video to get more of my friends into KSP! Thanks!

[fatcargo]

Procedural fairings used to make the engine clusters...

I just wanted to ask you how its done and tried it myself. Enclose a desired engine cluster in a stack of two opposing fairing base rings so the blue guide lines make a closed shape, add structural shroud, lock its shape and delete the back/last fairing base ring, leaving a nice opening for engine exhaust.

A small design coolness bonus is that you can force that opened end to be slightly smaller or larger, or have a cylinder-like shape with a "bulge" halfway. It is a matter of imagination.

[coco146]

Hey, I'm playing with Realism Overhaul, necessitating that I make pretty big rockets. Right now I'm trying to make a rocket big enough to put 40 metric tonnes on a TLI. The only problem is getting enough thrust on the bottom stage, I need to use multiple engines. I only have a 3 meter thrust plate right now though, for a 7 meter bottom stage. Is there a way for me to adjust the thrust plate in the mod files to make then naturally bigger?

[Falcon Coupe]

Hey, I'm playing with Realism Overhaul, necessitating that I make pretty big rockets. Right now I'm trying to make a rocket big enough to put 40 metric tonnes on a TLI. The only problem is getting enough thrust on the bottom stage, I need to use multiple engines. I only have a 3 meter thrust plate right now though, for a 7 meter bottom stage. Is there a way for me to adjust the thrust plate in the mod files to make then naturally bigger?

There is a part called a Procedural thurust plate multi adapter (if it's not in this mod, it's in procedural parts) and it can be made to any size with any number of nodes, it's brilliant, I use it all the time.

[NathanKell]

Falcon Coupe: protip, that's what coco146 is talking about.

coco146: RO will not play with stock career. Use [ur=http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/103196-0-25-Realistic-Progression-Zero-%28RP-0%29-Lightweight-RealismOverhaul-career-mode]RP-0, the career mod for RO.

[coco146]

Yeah, I was finding the Thrust Plate Multi Adapter too small. It's max size is 10 meters, that comes with the last node. I was hoping to be able to adjust it in the mod's settings to, say, double the size, when it's available at 3 meters now I'd like it to be 5 or 6 meters, 6 I'd rather it be ten. Just wondering if such were possible because otherwise engine clustering can be a bit of a bother.

[NathanKell]

If you are playing RP-0, then thrust plate size (and fairing adapter size) should track with unlocked tank size. If you are not playing RP-0, then as I said career mode is not supported (with RO).

[John FX]

Optional manual adjustment of fairing parameters instead of automatic payload scan.

Oh, yes please. I'm wanting to set the base size, top size and the exact point on the fairing where the top size happens.

Very much looking forward to this.

[NathanKell]

John FX: it's in the current release....

[fatcargo]

John FX: it's in the current release....

I'm using structural PFs to cover RTG, probe core and reaction wheel in front of a SSTO to make it aerodynamic. Problem is that i also needed to stack two large girders in front to ensure PFs have more pointy shape instead of a blunt nose. PFs are optimized to cover parts with minimum volume, but in my case this is not the best option.

Is there a way to select at which point along a main axis will a conic fairing start to taper from full diameter down to tip ?

I know of shape locking option, but sometimes fairings just set taper point too far, near the tip so the shape looks more like blunt bullet.

[NathanKell]

Right-click the base that controls it. Click the box by "auto-shape" to turn that off. Now right click elsewhere, now right-click again to refresh the menu. Now you have shape controls.

[fatcargo]

Right-click the base that controls it. Click the box by "auto-shape" to turn that off. Now right click elsewhere, now right-click again to refresh the menu. Now you have shape controls.

Fast and clean. Thank you.

[cicatrix]

I have a question about fairing base ring, namely - it's sturdiness. It appears small when placed and needs to be scaled up to the needed size. The problem is that, apparently, the joint strength remains as if it were 0.625 m. Generally I manage to keep the rocket stable (by turning off SAS), but there are times it bends dangerously. Is there a way to make it stronger?

[hellbender]

So we're getting stock procedural fairings in 1.0.

http://kerbaldevteam.tumblr.com/

I may be late to the party here, but what does this mean for this mod? Are the stock procedural fairings related to it?

[e-dog]

So we're getting stock procedural fairings in 1.0.

http://kerbaldevteam.tumblr.com/

I may be late to the party here, but what does this mean for this mod? Are the stock procedural fairings related to it?

That's an interesting question. So far Squad didn't contact me, and I couldn't contact them about that too. Also, Harvester wrote that he's making the stock fairings, so I guess they aren't related to my mod.

What this means for the mod depends on what exactly Squad will make. At the minimum, they're going to do proper shielding calculations for aero and reentry heat, so I could at least use that.

It's not clear whether there will be automatic payload scanning like in my mod, or only setting fairing parameters.

It's not clear if there will be stock inline fairings. And if there will be anything like the interstage adapter.

So, it depends. If they do all those features, I might just make it into an aesthetics mod, adding more shapes, textures etc. to the stock fairings. Or I might do some other procedural stuff. Fuselages? Wings? Girders? Or that science mod I wanted to make to remove the science points and replace them with quest-like progression of scientific experiments.

[Olympic1]

That's an interesting question. So far Squad didn't contact me, and I couldn't contact them about that too. Also, Harvester wrote that he's making the stock fairings, so I guess they aren't related to my mod.

What this means for the mod depends on what exactly Squad will make. At the minimum, they're going to do proper shielding calculations for aero and reentry heat, so I could at least use that.

It's not clear whether there will be automatic payload scanning like in my mod, or only setting fairing parameters.

It's not clear if there will be stock inline fairings. And if there will be anything like the interstage adapter.

So, it depends. If they do all those features, I might just make it into an aesthetics mod, adding more shapes, textures etc. to the stock fairings. Or I might do some other procedural stuff. Fuselages? Wings? Girders? Or that science mod I wanted to make to remove the science points and replace them with quest-like progression of scientific experiments.

So many questions, so few answers

[hellbender]

Thanks for clarifying, e-dog.

For what it's worth, even if the stock fairings come to supersede yours, you have my eternal gratitude for Procedural Fairings.

I'm a long-time lurker, and I've always felt the need to have fairings of some kind on my rockets. Your mod has made that process exceptionally simple.

[pdobrev]

If squad do indeed implement procedural fairings to a point where you shift the direction of your mod's development, would you consider cockpits? Not as a center point of the mod of course, but as a supplement. I could see glass domes enveloping EAS-1s just like fairings envelop payloads, but I have no idea what effort would that take.

[Kowgan]

The science mod to remove the science points and replace them with quest-like progression of scientific experiments seems pretty interesting, though. I'd totally look forward to it.

Shameless copypaste.

[Captain Planet]

Even though fairings will soon be stock, I'd still like to use this mod post-1.0. I've grown very attached to the level of flexibility your parts give me over the pre-made templates offered by KW etc., which seems to be the direction Squad's fairings are going.

[LostOblivion]

You get a null pointer if node count is set to zero:

(Filename: C:/BuildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/StandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49)

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at Keramzit.KzFairingBaseResizer.updateNodeSize (Single scale) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 


  at Keramzit.KzPartResizer.OnLoad (.ConfigNode cfg) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 


  at PartModule.Load (.ConfigNode node) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 


  at Part.LoadModule (.ConfigNode node, System.Int32& moduleIndex) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 


  at ShipConstruct.LoadShip (.ConfigNode root) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 


  at ShipConstruction.LoadShip (System.String filePath) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 


  at FlightDriver.Start () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 

[futrtrubl]

I have 2 feature requests.

Highlighting of parts that are limiting autoshape.

And an additional parameter for manual shapes, the very end of the fairing. Currently the top of the fairing always has the same slope, and this would allow you to change that.

Edward

[Motokid600]

I hope this mod can actually be incorporated as additional functionality for the new stock system. because something tells me it may be a little on the basic side. Who knows, we'll see.

Question. Is there a way to make the interstage base invisible? Maybe by deleting the model? It'd be great to have it just so the nodes appeared and the fairing walls would be the only thing you see.

[Secret Agent Kirrim]

For some reason, when I place a fairing base, the blue lines dont appear, and when I try attach a side fairing to it, it dosent resize to accomodate the payload. Help!