[0.21.1] Maneuver Node Improvement v1.2b

[voneiden]

NOTE - Check out superseding plugin PreciseNode by regex

About

Maneuver Node Improvement plugin exists to assist in carefully designing maneuver nodes and dealing with their slippery nature. With the the plugin you can easily cycle through the available nodes and edit their attributes either with the help of keyboard or mouse.

Originally released somewhere around 0.17 I guess, I have not updated this plugin for a while. The new version adds buttons to enable mouse-only usage, buttons for changing patched conics mode, and a toggle switch that will allow you to edit the previously active node even if the bloody Gizmo closes. Try not to double-click too much, or you're going to change the camera focus to something else.

I also realize(d recently) that MechJeb sports a very similar tool, Maneuver Node Editor. If you already use MechJeb, you might prefer that one of course. I haven't checked it out, but there are probably some differences.

Quickstart

The key you use to cycle through maneuver nodes is by default O (as in Orange). Pressing this key opens the last node you had open before it closed. If no node was open before, it opens the first node in the node list. If a node was already open, it opens the next node in the list. So if you accidentally close the node you were editing, just hit O to bring it back open.

Using the window, you can adjust the universal time when the node happens. Pgd stands for prograde (green buttons on the node gizmo), Rad stands for Radial (blue buttons on the gizmo) and Nml stands for Normal (purple buttons on the gizmo). You can edit the node values with your keyboard or by using mouse. If you use mouse, you should tick the "Keep open" toggle to ensure that the window doesn't close when your node closes (KSP feature, no can do!). There are four buttons: -, a number, + and S. Use - and + to adjust the number. Use S to flip the sign of the number (positive/negative). Click the number to add it to the node.

The window also displays total Delta V required for the node and you can quickly change patched conics mode. Changing patched conics mode is very useful when you're trying to create an accurate encounter. You can set camera focus on the destination planet and change the conics mode to help you visualize the encounter.

Screenshot

Download

Download from Spaceport!

Source code

Edited November 9, 2013 by voneiden

[Benie]

Oh neat. I can definitely see this being useful.

[Alhazzared]

The mod does not work.

I clicked the node the box pops up I press a button and the box disappears.

Not working

[saurus]

The mod does not work.

I clicked the node the box pops up I press a button and the box disappears.

Not working

voneiden, do you mind taking a look at this problem, I am having problems with the mod especially after switching between different space craft from map mode. The buttons on the manoeuvre pop up are often unresponsive and in some cases the pop up just closes as soon as it is opened.

[Tristavius]

Ah, you Sir are awesome. Recently clean-slate installed KSP just before the new version and lost the nodes - couldn't even find a link to it as it had been unmaintained for so long. Very happy to see it back just in time

[regex]

I have a request: could you possibly add a display of the ejection angle of the maneuver node in relation to the orbited body? This would greatly help with interplanetary transfers and, IMO, fits right in with your mod.

It's great to see this updated, good work!

[klundtasaur]

Is anyone else getting a corrupt .zip from Spaceport? I can't extract it for some reason (running OS X, but other .zip's are working fine).

[voneiden]

The mod does not work.

I clicked the node the box pops up I press a button and the box disappears.

Not working

Did you try ticking the "Keep open" toggle button? When you interact with mouse clicks, KSP closes the maneuver node gizmo sooner or later which in turn hides the node window unless the toggle is set.

voneiden, do you mind taking a look at this problem, I am having problems with the mod especially after switching between different space craft from map mode. The buttons on the manoeuvre pop up are often unresponsive and in some cases the pop up just closes as soon as it is opened.

Oh, that might make sense. I'll do some debugging and see how it reacts to changing vessels..

I have a request: could you possibly add a display of the ejection angle of the maneuver node in relation to the orbited body? This would greatly help with interplanetary transfers and, IMO, fits right in with your mod.

It's great to see this updated, good work!

Thanks. I have a tutorial in my signature which deals also with finding the correct position for the ejection node without knowing anything about the correct ejection angle. I'll keep this in mind though.

[urablahblah]

I was just thinking about how much I missed this little plugin earlier today! I'm glad you brought it back. One thing though, can you go into a little more detail what the different conic modes are? I'm unfamiliar with what they are.

[Daveigus]

Did you try ticking the "Keep open" toggle button? When you interact with mouse clicks, KSP closes the maneuver node gizmo sooner or later which in turn hides the node window unless the toggle is set.

I have the same problem and the option to keep open isn't selectable, when i press something in the window it just acts as if there is no window at all, i can't even drag it around.

[danw13335]

Yep I'm having the same problem as the other people in this thread. Nothing in the popup is interactable, and it closes as soon as you click anything (without changing any of the values).

[Krizzen]

The conics modes are just different ways of visualizing your trajectory for intercepts with other SOIs. Conics mode 0 is *extremely* useful for tuning an intercept, let's say to Jool. This mode will show your predicted trajectory in relation to Jool where it is *now* and not where it *will* be. This allows you to double-click Jool in the map to get a nice closeup view of your predicted trajectory as opposed to an absolute mess of orbits and symbols piled up on a little ghost symbol of Jool.

Here's conics mode 0 used to visualize an intercept with the Mun and here's where I found the image with images of each conics mode!

Edited July 28, 2013 by Krizzen

[jrandom]

I, too, am getting the vanishing window problem. Can't even click "keep window open" because it just closes and does not register the click.

[KhaosCorp]

Can this be used as effective replacement to MechJeb2 maneuver planner?

I want to stop using MJ, but would like to find replacements for the features I still use.

[TriggerAu]

Nice to see this back Voneiden (and you as well ). sorely missed it in the last few updates

[voneiden]

Released a hotfix that hopefully addresses the issue people were having when switching ships in the map view!

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's always appreciated.

Edit:

Can this be used as effective replacement to MechJeb2 maneuver planner?

I want to stop using MJ, but would like to find replacements for the features I still use.

I haven't tried the maneuver planner in MechJeb2, but I imagine so - both plugins provide similar features. I did check their source code though, and it seems they have few extra buttons that allow quick placement of the node to various places on the orbit (ascending/descending nodes, apoapsis/periapsis?).

Edited July 28, 2013 by voneiden

[FenrirWolf]

This looks pretty useful. Might have to take it for a spin!

[jrandom]

The latest update stays open now. Fantastic work!

[jrandom]

Oh hey, feature request: The ability to have the maneuver node jump to apoapsis, periapsis, and the points halfway between those.

[KhaosCorp]

Released a hotfix that hopefully addresses the issue people were having when switching ships in the map view!

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's always appreciated.

Edit:

I haven't tried the maneuver planner in MechJeb2, but I imagine so - both plugins provide similar features. I did check their source code though, and it seems they have few extra buttons that allow quick placement of the node to various places on the orbit (ascending/descending nodes, apoapsis/periapsis?).

Kinda yes. When MJ2 makes a node you have a few options to choose from as to where the node is placed. Apo/Peri of course, you can set a time (as in '5min 28sec from now make a node') you can go at accend/decend node for some. Also things like changing Ap/Pe can be done at set altitudes.

[urablahblah]

Oh hey, feature request: The ability to have the maneuver node jump to apoapsis, periapsis, and the points halfway between those.

This +1, it would be so useful. I spend half my time aligning the nodes to be just right.

[PeteMcCartney]

Hi! Thanks for a great mod! For some reason I can't unzip the 1.2b file on my mac. It starts and then just continues to attempt to unzip. Seems to stall at about 60%.

[jrandom]

Hi! Thanks for a great mod! For some reason I can't unzip the 1.2b file on my mac. It starts and then just continues to attempt to unzip. Seems to stall at about 60%.

I was only able to uncompress it with Stuffit Expander. The built-in unzipper in Mac OS X doesn't like it for some reason.

[Alhazzared]

Works great now.

Edited July 29, 2013 by Alhazzared

[Teirusu]

Voneiden,

This is very awesome for those of us that don't like using MechJeb, so I thank you for your efforts on this!

I have a request! There's a little known Mod I've seen on Reddit that I've been using for some time now call Bettermaneuvernodes.

http://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1c3cba/plugin_bettermaneuvernodes_v01_control_maneuver/

Being able to change a maneuver node with the numpad is very handy, particularly when trying to adjust/move the node along the orbital path for a rendezvous. It would be awesome if you could combine the features of this mod with yours! Better to have one plugin for node editing then to have a whole mess of them.