[0.25]KSP Interstellar (Magnetic Nozzles, ISRU Revamp) Version 0.13

[ArcFurnace]

Several bug/issue reports from messing around with fusion-powered plasma thrusters.

1. Plasma thrusters have the same power priority as the fusion reactor's input power. Plasma thrusters will take 100% of the produced power at 100% throttle, causing the tokamak power requirements to slowly drain your power reserves. If the priority could be adjusted so plasma thrusters take 100% of the power left after the fusion reactors get their cut, it would be easier to guarantee that things would work continuously (although it can run for quite some time as it is, given the fairly slow drain of the reactors compared to the reserves).

2. Plasma thrusters don't actually seem to respect their rated max power. Image below demonstrates this bug as well as the previous issue (1.25m plasma thruster with rated max power input of 25 GW is consuming over 32 GW, and net power is negative by the total reactor power input requirements). Disregard that. Apparently the figure listed in the tooltip is the maximum power after efficiency is taken into account, so LiquidFuel with an efficiency of 72% has a maximum power consumption of 25/0.72 = 34.7 GW. Was this documented anywhere? It should be. Image still nicely demonstrates issue #1.

3. Thermal generators were altered so they can consume ChargedParticles as if they were ThermalPower. This is nice if you only attach a thermal generator, preventing you from wasting 20% of your D-T fusion reactor's output. However, if you attach both types of generator, the thermal generator will still consume ChargedParticles simulataneously with the direct conversion generator. This effectively causes the reactor's ChargedParticle production to be counted twice in the maximum available power figures. You can, in fact, get that much power, but only for as long as your stockpile of ChargedParticles lasts, which is not very long at all. It also confuses the electrical engines- plasma thrusters at 100% will attempt to draw the maximum available power; since this is unsustainable due to the double-counting, this will cause the thrusters to rapidly drain your power reserves at 100% throttle.

Edited May 3, 2014 by ArcFurnace

[Woodstar]

I figured it out, I just had to turn down the beamed power level an tiny bit now it is running stable.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Woodstar

[ArcFurnace]

I suspect that's the issue with combined thermal+direct conversion generators causing the "theoretical supply" to be set to an unsustainable level (issue #3 in my most recent post). Try it with only a thermal generator and see if it works better.

[bonesbro]

In all cases, none of the thermal turbojets perform well above 12 km, the TWR starts dropping off considerably at that altitude and I'm not really able to get a decent acceleration either, upper speedlimit I remember was ~450m/s.

I'm used to spaceplanes in Orbiter (specifically the XR2 Ravenstar) where you get up to Mach 3 or so, kick in the scramjets, climb to and hold about 60km altitude, build speed to ~mach 20, then begin climing for orbital insertion. I was hoping to have a similar profile in KSP (the acceleration phase in particular), and I seem to remember being able to do something like it with spaceplanes before...but that was many versions of KSP ago...

I'm not very good at SSTOs yet, but what I've found with the thermal turbojets is that I have to treat them just like high-thrust jet engines. With an upgraded 2.5m fusion they should be giving you 2000 kN on the runway and peak at about 2500 or so. I angle for about a 40 degree rise and run them on IntakeAir mode until about 15000 meters when they drop under about 600 kN, at which point I switch them to rocket mode burning LFO. Now they're doing about 720 kN. But the magic is that their ISP even in LFO mode is crazy high, ~4000 or so. So they'll do that 720 kN for a long long time. And then once you reach orbit you can switch them to pure liquid fuel for about 6800 ISP and 190 kN.

I took an SSO with these parts on a dive deep into Jool to get atmospheric science:

* Upgraded 2.5m fusion, with DC generator and 2.5m turbojet

* One B9 S2 fuel tank (920 liquid fuel)

* Four FL-T800 LFO tanks

* Two ramjet intakes and 12 of the B9 small radial DSI intakes

* Two medium (0.2 ton) radiators and two 1.25m inline radiators

* A small inline atmospheric scoop

* Wings, batteries, solar panels, science modules, a kethane detector I forgot to remove, and a 1-ton "tail" section to use as an aerodynamic looking cockpit.

LFO mode gives you kick to ascend out of a gravity well, and pure liquid fuel is enough for orbital burns. I used the scoop to refuel a bit while in Jool's atmosphere, though I think I remember not needing the extra fuel.

[Archeron]

It seems the link for the files are not operable atm. Looks like an awesome mod though. Is there another place to get the mod or maybe I am missing something. The primary link does nothing for me and the alternate goes to mediafire and then does nothing : (

[undercoveryankee]

Is the other model for the acclubeir drive meant to be in the experimental science node? It only costs 1000 Science and is long before antimatter or fusion...

the other model for the acclubeir drive is NOT part of the official download - so it is not "ment" to be anywhere actually..

iirc it's a model by ZZZ and you can place it where ever you want in the tree..

The .cfg files for the original Alcubierre put it in Experimental Science, and then TreeLoader moves it into one of the custom nodes. That may be for historical reasons, or for the benefit of people who would rather not run the Interstellar tech tree. The example .cfg's that ship with zzz's model copy all of the non-model-specific values from the original Alcubierre exactly, so the zzz folding Alcubierre also starts out in Experimental Science. But since the zzz part isn't official, it's not included in tree.cfg and it never gets moved.

You can edit the .cfg's for the folding Alcubierre to reference one of the Interstellar nodes, or you can add it to tree.cfg in your save folder and let TreeLoader move it.

[Einarr]

So what black magic are you using to get such high thrust from the 2.5m turbojets and reactors on the runway? Mine run at ~800KN each and peak ~860KN each. I do have upgraded reactors, DC generators, etc. Maybe I just need more intakes...though that'd probably make the precoolers near useless since they can only have one intake each (mounted on the node at one end). To my knowledge, radially mounted intakes do not work with precoolers. Additionally, I can't use the turbojets in IntakeAir mode until after IntakeAtm mode has dropped to less than 1 TWR (i.e. in flight). On the runway and close to the ground they produce 0 thrust regardless of IntakeAir availability or throttle setting.

Edit: After some testing, looks like I'm definitely not using enough intakes...now I just hope the precoolers can actually use radial intakes, otherwise I'd need more stacks than I care for...

Edited May 4, 2014 by Einarr

[Neil Armstrong's Ghost]

Can someone please help me with the instillation. I downloaded the mod pack today and attempted to install it. I followed the instructions in the readme and started a new career made game to play it. I selected the KSPI tech tree and tried to start, however I did not find any indication that any other part of the mod pack had been installed. There was no waste heat indicator and none of the techs which should have been in the early game were there. Then I created a new sandbox save to test it and none of the KSPI parts were there either. Every other mod i have works properly however this one does not and I really want to play it.

[bonesbro]

So what black magic are you using to get such high thrust from the 2.5m turbojets and reactors on the runway? Mine run at ~800KN each and peak ~860KN each. I do have upgraded reactors, DC generators, etc. Maybe I just need more intakes...though that'd probably make the precoolers near useless since they can only have one intake each (mounted on the node at one end). To my knowledge, radially mounted intakes do not work with precoolers. Additionally, I can't use the turbojets in IntakeAir mode until after IntakeAtm mode has dropped to less than 1 TWR (i.e. in flight). On the runway and close to the ground they produce 0 thrust regardless of IntakeAir availability or throttle setting.

Edit: After some testing, looks like I'm definitely not using enough intakes...now I just hope the precoolers can actually use radial intakes, otherwise I'd need more stacks than I care for...

Yep, more intakes. The thermal turbojet's thrust is greatly related to the amount of air it has to heat up and spray out the back.

I've found that I don't need precoolers on my nuclear SSTOs. I rarely get more than 600-700 m/s before switching to rocket mode and the precoolers aren't needed till about twice that. Perhaps it's the ascent profile I use - I pitch to about 40 degrees and don't change till I'm in space. I wasn't getting better results when I leveled off at 11k to gain speed, though... it seemed like the extra speed wasn't helping because it was going straight instead of up.

[Klondike]

Is anyone else have a problem with installing the new version of interstellar? I tried replacing the warp plugin in my main game, but It always kept getting hung up on the augmented arcjet(everything up to that loaded fine). Finally I got fed up and tried a completly new, unmodded ksp with a new interstellar and it still got stuck up on the arcjet. The specific file is warpplugins/parts/engines/augmentedarcjet/part0/FNSmallerAugmentedArcjet

I am having this problem as well... But it is a second bug that I uncovered while initially trying to figure out why Kerbal Space Program won't start (crashes with Oops! error) with WarpPlugin in my GameData folder, but starts up just fine if I remove it.

When I try to start KSP with just the Interstellar mod and no other mods, that is when the game hangs up on loading the FNSmallerAugmentedArcjet

[DavidHunter]

I just installed the latest version of the mod, but have a new issue that hasn't already been reported by above posters...

Specifically, upon loading KSP, it never asked me to select the tech tree (i.e. as if TreeLoader wasn't installed properly... which it definitely is). So my save file has zero parts in it whatsoever. Nothing in the research centre at all. There are the research nodes, just no parts. The VAB and SPH are both empty, too, so upon loading KSP I lost all my current missions. D:

(Interestingly, when I first loaded the save, and KSP did its usual "this ship has invalid parts, deleting it" routine, it deleted the asteroids introduced by vanilla KSP 0.23.5 as well...)

Any suggestions, please? I tried completely uninstalling and reinstalling KSP Interstellar, and also tried installing the new version of TreeLoader, to no success.

Thanks in advance.

[DavidHunter]

I just installed the latest version of the mod, but have a new issue that hasn't already been reported by above posters...

Specifically, upon loading KSP, it never asked me to select the tech tree (i.e. as if TreeLoader wasn't installed properly... which it definitely is). So my save file has zero parts in it whatsoever. Nothing in the research centre at all. There are the research nodes, just no parts. The VAB and SPH are both empty, too, so upon loading KSP I lost all my current missions. D:

(Interestingly, when I first loaded the save, and KSP did its usual "this ship has invalid parts, deleting it" routine, it deleted the asteroids introduced by vanilla KSP 0.23.5 as well...)

Any suggestions, please? I tried completely uninstalling and reinstalling KSP Interstellar, and also tried installing the new version of TreeLoader, to no success.

Thanks in advance.

http://david.huntergeophysics.com/screenshot918.png

Completely uninstalling Interstellar also didn't fix the issue.

[Einarr]

Sigh, more testing has revealed a fatal flaw in my plans to rebuild my Grand Tour Ship as a spaceplane...I won't be able to land the thing...

was playing around with my Third spaceplane design since returning to KSP for .23/.23.5 (second album from one of my earlier posts, now a page or three back...) and finally got around to bringing it in fo a landing...and fail the landing 99% of the time because the thing decides it wants to yaw after all gear touch down, then it rolls over and rips itself apart. I do have the yaw issue during takeoff as well, but if I pull the nose up quickly enough, it doesn't get to the rolling over stage. Also noted on final approach that it wobbles up and down (no flexing), almost as though it's in heavy turbulence, but I know that's not implemented.

May have to go ask for guidance on spaceplane construction to avoid these sorts of issues in the future. Out of all my landing attempts, I did manage to get it down intact...once...and the crew died to G forces when I tapped the brakes for a moment...definitely not my night...I do still have a quicksave of the craft on final approach...but I'm not hopeful of pulling it off. Suppose I could reload it and eject the crew so at least they survive...

Edit: Managed to reload the quicksave, redirect the craft into the ocean East of KSC, eject, and subsequently deploy parachutes on the crew. Both of them survived. The plane was a total loss. There wasn't even one piece of debris left. What a waste of 2 fusion reactors...

Edited May 4, 2014 by Einarr

[DavidHunter]

Completely uninstalling Interstellar also didn't fix the issue.

Never mind. Uninstalling a bunch of other mods and reinstalling Interstellar fixed the issue, so the problem must be in one of the other mods. Ignore me.

[ArcFurnace]

Sigh, more testing has revealed a fatal flaw in my plans to rebuild my Grand Tour Ship as a spaceplane...I won't be able to land the thing...

was playing around with my Third spaceplane design since returning to KSP for .23/.23.5 (second album from one of my earlier posts, now a page or three back...) and finally got around to bringing it in fo a landing...and fail the landing 99% of the time because the thing decides it wants to yaw after all gear touch down, then it rolls over and rips itself apart. I do have the yaw issue during takeoff as well, but if I pull the nose up quickly enough, it doesn't get to the rolling over stage. Also noted on final approach that it wobbles up and down (no flexing), almost as though it's in heavy turbulence, but I know that's not implemented.

May have to go ask for guidance on spaceplane construction to avoid these sorts of issues in the future. Out of all my landing attempts, I did manage to get it down intact...once...and the crew died to G forces when I tapped the brakes for a moment...definitely not my night...I do still have a quicksave of the craft on final approach...but I'm not hopeful of pulling it off. Suppose I could reload it and eject the crew so at least they survive...

This guide covers quite a few aspects of aircraft/spaceplane design, including landing gear. Dealing with wheelbarrowing on takeoff or landing can definitely be tricky. You really want to have an absolutely level landing field and come down level for best results. Wide-stance landing gear also helps some for landing, gives you more restoring force when you touch down and helps prevent wingtip strikes.

[phoenix_ca]

Thanks Arc. That guide is immensely helpful.

[ctbram]

No one has a clue why my fusion reactors keep shutting down when I switch to another craft and come back? I have posted this question three times now. I built four ships that are all using the 3.75 fusion reactor and generator in ktec mode. They are all upgraded parts. Three of them are beaming power and the third is a transfer stage using the DT Vista engine. They are all working as expected and have been running non-stop for several kerbal years.

The problem started day before yesterday I tried to build an updated transfer stage that I was to assemble in orbit with a pair of DT Vista engines. I assembled the ship and started the fusion reactor and it was fine. Then IU switched to another ship to do something and when I came back the reactor was offline. I restarted it then switched ships and immediately switched back and the reactor was offline again. I fiddled with this for hours trying everything I could think but I cannot keep the reactor online if I switch to another ship!!! I even warped time for a year with the ship active and the reactor ran non-stop just fine. Then I reverted back and switched ships and came back and the damn reactor was offline again!

So next I built a test bed with nothing but a reactor, a generator, 6 radiators, batteries, and a computer core and stuck it on the pad started the reactor switched away came back and the same thing happens - the reactor is offline!!!

Then I took one of the two ships that are working loaded them from the vab stuck one on the pad and started the reactor and switched away and come back and the reactor is still running?!?!?!?!? WTH? Why are the original ships working fine but every new ship I build with the same damn parts going offline as soon as they are not the active ship? I can link craft file if anyone cares to check them. I'd appreciate some help as this is really screwing me big time.

Edited May 4, 2014 by ctbram

[Atrius129]

-Snip

The problem started day before yesterday I tried to build an updated transfer stage that I was to assemble in orbit with a pair of DT Vista engines. I assembled the ship and started the fusion reactor and it was fine. Then IU switched to another ship to do something and when I came back the reactor was offline. I restarted it then switched ships and immediately switched back and the reactor was offline again. I fiddled with this for hours trying everything I could think but I cannot keep the reactor online if I switch to another ship!!! I even warped time for a year with the ship active and the reactor ran non-stop just fine. Then I reverted back and switched ships and came back and the damn reactor was offline again!

-Snip

Pretty strange issue. Are you using Remote Tech(doesn't seem like it) or an Infernal Robotics docking washer? I know IR parts still have pretty big issues while being underneath a docking part, as of 23.5. Can you make a another install using only KSPI, and test it that way?

[ctbram]

Interesting. I am not using any IR parts in either the new ship build or the test bed I created or the 4 ships that are working. But I did recently install IR and I think I installed it after building the first four ships that are working. I will copy the game and remove IR (I don't want ships in orbit to poof in my real game) and then build the test bed reactor with just the reactor, generator, 6x radiators, some batteries and a computer core and test to see if the reactor stays online if I switch away and come back.

Will let you know what I find.

[ctbram]

Interesting. I am not using any IR parts in either the new ship build or the test bed I created or the 4 ships that are working. But I did recently install IR and I think I installed it after building the first four ships that are working. I will copy the game and remove IR (I don't want ships in orbit to poof in my real game) and then build the test bed reactor with just the reactor, generator, 6x radiators, some batteries and a computer core and test to see if the reactor stays online if I switch away and come back.

Will let you know what I find.

This just gets stranger and stranger.

Still not working. Here is what I did. I made a copy of my game. Removed IR. Started the game and built a test bed reactor consisting of - 3.75m fusion reactor 55GW High-Q, generator in KTEC mode, 6 huge radiators, computer core, and 4000Ec battery. That should be all that is required.

I put this on the pad and started the reactor. switched away and came back ans sure enough the reactor was offline. So now I am getting fuming mad so I rip this off the pad go into the vab and load the god damn ship with the same damn parts )one of the original ships I build with the same parts that is working) put it on the pad, start the reactor, switch ships, come back and confirm the reactor is running just fine as expected.

Okay so now head head is ready to pop! I rip this off the pad and go into the vab and strip EVERYTHING but the reactor, the generator, the radiators, the computer core and the battery off the same ship that just F-ing just worked!!!!! Now I launch this and start the reactor, then switch ships, then come back and the bloody f-ing reactor is now offline!!! WHAT THE BLOODY F-ING HELL IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!

Edited May 4, 2014 by ctbram

[ctbram]

This just gets stranger and stranger.

Still not working. Here is what I did. I made a copy of my game. Removed IR. Started the game and built a test bed reactor consisting of - 3.75m fusion reactor 55GW High-Q, generator in KTEC mode, 6 huge radiators, computer core, and 4000Ec battery. That should be all that is required.

I put this on the pad and started the reactor. switched away and came back ans sure enough the reactor was offline. So now I am getting fuming mad so I rip this off the pad go into the vab and load the god damn ship with the same damn parts )one of the original ships I build with the same parts that is working) put it on the pad, start the reactor, switch ships, come back and confirm the reactor is running just fine as expected.

Okay so now head head is ready to pop! I rip this off the pad and go into the vab and strip EVERYTHING but the reactor, the generator, the radiators, the computer core and the battery off the same ship that just F-ing just worked!!!!! Now I launch this and start the reactor, then switch ships, then come back and the bloody f-ing reactor is now offline!!! WHAT THE BLOODY F-ING HELL IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!

I am now going through the process of putting the version of the ship that works on the pad and verifying that the reactor continues to run when I switch away and come back. Then I go back to the vab and strip parts off and put it back on the pad and test again, go back to the vab rip more off, back tot he pad and test and so on. I have it stripped to nothing but the reacotor, generator, radiators, comp core, battery, and a phased array, and some mosc bits (lights, dishes, antennas, rcs motors, etc) and it's still working!!!

I am gonna pull the last bits off now but if it continues to work I will be totally mystified as to why my new builds with the same damn parts is not! At this point I would be out of ideas. The only thing I could do is post the craft file for the stripped down ship that is working and the new test build with the same parts that is not and see if someone that know more about the internals of the craft files can look at them and tell me what is different and why?

[WaveFunctionP]

Whew. Just got through recording my reactor tutorial. Over 1 hour and 40 minutes of me jabbering. I have no idea how I'm going to break it up into digestible bits. Or if I should. The editing is going to be tricky.

[ctbram]

I am now going through the process of putting the version of the ship that works on the pad and verifying that the reactor continues to run when I switch away and come back. Then I go back to the vab and strip parts off and put it back on the pad and test again, go back to the vab rip more off, back tot he pad and test and so on. I have it stripped to nothing but the reacotor, generator, radiators, comp core, battery, and a phased array, and some mosc bits (lights, dishes, antennas, rcs motors, etc) and it's still working!!!

I am gonna pull the last bits off now but if it continues to work I will be totally mystified as to why my new builds with the same damn parts is not! At this point I would be out of ideas. The only thing I could do is post the craft file for the stripped down ship that is working and the new test build with the same parts that is not and see if someone that know more about the internals of the craft files can look at them and tell me what is different and why?

Okay my brain has officially blown a gasket!!!!

Still not working!!!! Here is what I have done. I copied my game. removed IR. which had no affect on the problem.

So then I took my ship build that has the fusion reactor that stays running when I switch away and come back. I stripped that down to nothing but the reactor, generator, 6x radiators, battery, and computer core and stuck two fuel tanks at the bottom so the radiators don't hit the ground. I put that on the pad start the reactor switch away and come back and the reactor is still running!!!!!!!!

Now I build EXACTLY THE SAME DAMN THING - reactor, generator, 6x radiators, battery, and computer core sitting on top of two fuel tanks. I put that on the pad and start the reactor switch away and come back and the reactor is shutdown offline!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are the two .craft files can someone please look at them and confirm the behavior and tell me if they see a difference that would explain what the bloody heck is going on?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5501128/ksp_fusionReactorBug/FRTB%20fresh%20built%20version.craft

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5501128/ksp_fusionReactorBug/FRTB%20Stripped%20Version%20ktec.craft

[Aedile]

WaveFunctionP, do you have a list of differences between your version and the official one?

[brusura]

Are the small antimatter bottle working? I have four of them and one antimatter collector , the collector get 3,98 am per day but the bottles are not filling, they say charging and they are actually consuming power from 2 giga solar panel, if I put instead 1,25 am containter them AM start to flow but 2 giga solar panel are not enough when the container start to fill.