[1.0.2] NovaPunch 2.09. - May 6th - 1.0 Compatibility Update

[Mokmo]

I have a slight issue with a part. the AA-BB Linear Decoupling Strut (NP_decoupler_radial_Strut) somehow applies the decoupling force in reverse direction at detachment. Yet the part has the exact same settings as the stock ones (except the force, which is much higher). I fixed it by reversing the ejection force parameter in the part's cfg file.

[Tiberion]

It probably got flipped 180 when I imported it into Unity, I found and fixed a few more like that, but I may have missed a couple. If you find anymore let me know and I'll add them to the Fix-It list

[UAL002]

Anyone start having random crashes while using this?

[Tiberion]

Just read back a few pages (or in any thread of a large parts mod) and you'll see others having issues - its a KSP memory bug causing the crash, and the only thing you can do is minimize the number of parts you install at once. Pick what you need, set the others aside.

[UAL002]

Yea, I removed the fairings, as I have procedural fairings, might remove some of the redundant tanks as I have procedural tanks also. Haven't crashed since. I also removed hi res planet and moon textures at the same time. Probably a combo of both.

[SHaFT7]

I've been trying in vain to get a launcher together using NP 5m parts that will lift 200t to LKO without resorting to custom struts to do it. (I'm up against the RAM limit of the game with the mods I have and don't really want to add more. I already have quantum struts and have been using them a lot). I've been trying various launcher configs using the bearcat 5x's, matriarchs, and the large SRBs, but no matter what I do, once the bearcat 5x kicks in, It usually breaks my connection point between the lifter and the payload itself (which happens to be a medium-sized kethane miner). I'd love to see some examples of low-part count NP launchers that will put 200t into LKO with reliability.

I DO have a stock super-asparagus setup that does it, but it's 1200 parts for the lifter alone (or 750 once I replace those with welded tanks), so I'd love to get the part count down so it doesn't take 30min for the launch to finish.

[smunisto]

How do people even manage to get such monstrous designs to lift something so small compared to the lifter?I have a simple 3m center + 4 LFO Boosters which gets to orbit with around 800 m/s dV left in the lifter stage when lifting around 100t. It's like 70 parts and has a total dV of 6500 with 80t payloads. So if I boost it up to 140 I can theoretically lift 200t without problems.

[hellion13]

@SHaFT7 it honestly took me getting a better PC build with MUCH faster RAM, in order to anything really big up, i was able to max out the physics calculations and it stabilized everything and that big bearcat 5x's gimbals tend to wanna kick everything around HARD so disable them and use a ton of SAS torque or use smaller control engines that can fall away with the bearcats

im using 32gb of Corsair 2400mhz gaming RAM, it was a $200 chunk of change but it COMPLETELY stabilized my KSP experience...and yes i know that 32gb of ram is overkill but who the hell can say they have 32gb of ram LOL

Edited September 10, 2013 by hellion13

[smunisto]

Since KSP uses only 3.4 Gb of those 32Gb, anything over 8Gb to play it is useless. Speed is not an issue too, since the assets are never completely unloaded from the RAM.Tiberion, do you have any update about the current progress on the next version of NP?

[viperwolf]

@ hellion13 hehe on my DT im running 32gb of corsair dominators/2133mhz on a rampage IV extreme board. but im using a G75 LapTop with 16gbs/1600mhz right now sense im away for a while. ofcourse i dont just use these for KSP only, why have so much overkill? its addicting i guess. the board was designed to run 64gb of ram. I dont know anything or any program that will come close to 32gbs. why would they build a board like that? why do we overclock cpu to 4.5 or more? its just addicting i think. and fun

@shaft7 send me the craft file of your payload and i would like to try to build that rocket for you

Edited September 10, 2013 by viperwolf

[hellion13]

LOL i first started to play this game on a POS Best Buy HP and had HORRID performance issues and CTDs(especially with this addon), ended up saying EFF it and with a budget of $200-300 a month built the best damned AMD machine i could buy because 10fps wasnt enough for me to warrant the $400+ price difference between the AMD fx 8350, and intels i7 3k-4k chip, and i could still get the PCI-e 3.0 with the ASUS Sabertooth gen3/r2.0 MB(this has been my best purchase) running 2 HD7950 GPUs crossfire there really isnt ANYTHING i cant get 60+ fps out of(to hell with the micro stutter i cant even see it!!) it even stays cool as hell at 37C even with 1000+ part rockets flying

Edited September 10, 2013 by hellion13

[Tiberion]

For super heavy launchers you'll almost surely want to disable the gimbals on the bearcat 5x and make sure you are strutting the engines and tanks together. The "Heavier" struts in NP should be solid enough to not allow your payload to snap off (Quantums should work too) as long as your rocket isn't oscillating too much from the gimbal's power.

The next update to NovaPunch isn't under way, I just have a list of things to do. Me and Frizzank both had to do some work on our other mods (Tiberdyne and FASA) and he has been out of town this week to boot)

We'll get back to work soon enough, hopefully.

[SHaFT7]

I currently do turn off the gimbals for the bearcat 5x, and I strut (using normal struts) each engine section together with at least 6x symmetry. I left the current NP struts out when I installed the mod as I didn't want to rely on them, but I may have to put them back in.

EDIT: this is gonna sound stupid, but I popped the heavy and heavier struts from NP back in, and they won't load up in the editor. I put them in the correct folders and everything, is there another part of the mod that they depend on as well?

Double EDIT: nevermind. I just had to reextract and restart the game. F12 + reload parts wasn't working.

Edited September 11, 2013 by SHaFT7

[SHaFT7]

here it is with a rocket example attached. feel free to throw it away and build it back up. I have a lot of action groups setup on the craft. If you end up having to the use the engines of the miner to finish orbiting, they will try to use the sabre jets, so you have to use "7" to turn them back off so you can throttle back up. I will usually disable the rockomax engines as will with "5" and just use the nuke engines to finish off the orbit.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5421261/KSP/Kethane%20Medium%20Miner%20MkII%20Rocket.craft

Here is one with a strange SABRE setup on it. It actually works getting into LKO, but you end up having to use about 50% of the fuel on the miner craft to get the orbit established. Also if you try to launch it, use "0" to activate the jets on the pad, let them spool to at least 400 thrust before hitting the stage to let go of the clamps, and then it slowly climbs. I use mechjeb to manage the air intakes during launch. It's a very very smooth launch, and it was more just to see if I could do it, but it takes forever.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5421261/KSP/Kethane%20Medium%20Miner%20MkII%20SABRE.craft

mods used:

NP 2.02

Quantum Struts

Mechjeb 2.09

Procedural Fairings

Kethane 0.7.7

Tal's Spherical Tanks

THSS

B9 Aerospace (for the lights)

Actions on the Fly (for fixing my screwups) (optional)

FTNM http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/fatman-series-atomic-rockets/ (with this mod, I edited the cfg file for the big nuke engine. see the comments under "Lance Keltner" (at the end) for the quick edit. It allows the engine to shut off like normal ones instead of staying on for a few sec (which screws up MJ))

That should do it. Hopefully I didn't miss anything.

Also, since one of my posts didn't make it earlier. I have a i5-3570k @4.5GHz with 16GB of ram, so speed of the computer is not an issue. Also I have the physics set down to 0.01, so it's pretty smooth even with a lot of parts.

EDIT: ok, I was able to get it going. It turns out I just mainly needed the super struts from the NP pack. Please though, I'd love to see some other launcher ideas to get 200t to LKO using big rockets

Edited September 11, 2013 by SHaFT7

[Tiberion]

Yeah the super struts are required simply because of the way KSP's physics work. As the masses of things get bigged, the forces are multiplied too, and at a certain weight its mathematically impossible for stock struts to work anymore. The "super" struts just turn up the tolerances so they stay within the range of forces experienced by heavy lifters.

They really aren't cheaty unless you use the heavy struts on small craft, but there isn't much I can do now to limit that. One day when budgets are a thing I will make the heavy struts more expensive, and thus not cost effective for small launches. The tech tree might also solve this. We'll see how it works out.

(Note; don't panic, since the tech trees and budgets won't affect sandbox mode anyway - you'll be able to play and build as you do now)

[Blaze5555]

I'm not sure if this has been asked before but when i try to use the Long solid boosters from the mod (the biggest ones) i can't seem to get them to attach to any decouplers. Is this a bug or am i doing something wrong?

[hellion13]

i had that issue once but a restart fixed it

[p1t1o]

The download from spaceport is not currently working, all you get is a partial zip file with a lot of missing files.

Any word on this? I am having the same problem with the Kosmos and Soviet packs. Every time I download the filesize is different, with an accompanying "unexpected end to the archive" error. A lot of reports from other people having the same problem.

[RoboRay]

It's a Spaceport issue, not an issue with any particular mod.

[p1t1o]

I know, but until Spaceport fixes itself, thats no more mods over some certain size. I'm skeptical about how quickly that sort of thing will be done, especially since SpacePort is due to be replaced/upgraded at some point.

I just want to let the OP know that at the moment, nobody (or at least, not many folks) can download his mod - or actually you can, but the file will be incomplete.

[Tiberion]

If you check the 1st post I have a Mediafire mirror linked. It's always there

http://www./download/u96i0v76j3q3rmg/NovaPunch2_02b.zip

[p1t1o]

If you check the 1st post I have a Mediafire mirror linked. It's always there

http://www./download/u96i0v76j3q3rmg/NovaPunch2_02b.zip

Clearly Im embarrassingly blind. Its a pain about the other mods but yours is on its way to me right now.

[mwlue]

Hmm, learning to weld parts together and i picked NP 5m parts as i'm messing around with my mun rocket

not bad huh?

[Kerbal01]

Not bad at all, nice work!

[mwlue]

Lulz once you get started, its very hard to stop