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

[ABZB]

Cool experience:

I was chatting to this elderly gentleman I met on Saturday night, at the [delayed] fireworks - we ended up having a whole discussion about this game, and KSPI in particular - and on the whole black hole drive thing we were talking about a few pages back - it turns out he used to do projectile launcher programming and building for NASA and other US military purposes - he is a member of this org, too: http://planetary.org/. It was a very fun and fortuitous encounter

[russiandivxclub]

By misstake I selected stock instead of SKPI tree on start and now I doin't know what to do in FAQ I see , make new game and one of the first lines in persistent.sfs will determine what tree is used.

ooookay first 50 lines of new and my year old persistent.sfs are same ...wtf ? I mean can anyone just copy / paste line I need and where to put it please ? I mean how about reset or change tree button ? Come on guys this shouldn't be this hard. Also my persistent.sfs is over 3MB new one is just 29KB ......

also is it persistent.sfs or tree.cfg

Please help.

[Deredere]

The Viable mass referenced is 606000 Metric tons (so a KSP mass of 606).

Um... no. KSP masses are in tons.kilograms.

With KSPI, you can reasonably launch around a thousand tons into low orbit with a powerful microwave network and a plasma thruster running on Xenon.

You're talking about 600 times that.

[stellarator]

Oh, i didn't know it. Thanks!

[Shadoworgon]

So i've run into a bit of a problem i think...

I built an aluminum hybrid rocket with a refinery to hop around the Mun collecting science (pretty much its a copy of Scott Manley's Outlander ship )

and i have a relay system powering it, I can mine alumina, and use it to activate the aluminum electrolysis option and it uses the alumina, but its not giving me any aluminum or oxidizer at all...i even time warped for an hour in game and nothing.. am i doing something wrong or did i break something in my files lol?

[ifly6]

For people who don't want to install one of the servo mods, can't a microwave receiver be made which is just like a solar panelâ€â€just the back-side. That'd be a nice helpful tool. Maybe make it unlockable with the advanced electrics. The current way is basically plastering a pile of antennas on the fuselage or on girders. A retractable solar-panel-like microwave receiver would be like the moving phased-array transceiver, but with a larger and much easier reach (two panels for front and back with large tangent coverage) and the old antennae plastered on the sides.

Also, the Heat Radiators have a model problem, causing some element of lag. They're probably the only part which I have issues withâ€â€the model used is too hard on the computer, probably due to its complexity. Simplifying the model would be really helpful. It is a good mod, great work! I like it, but there is a massive learning curve. While it is completely accurate (or at least, people say), I think some of it should be simplified in the same way that KSP itself is simplified from real rocketry.

[Scootaloo]

Does anyone else have a problem with thermal rockets giving asymmetrical thrust when placed in symmetry? I have them on a spaceplane getting beamed power, and using the in-line receivers (1.25m). I kick them on at high altitude and 100% of the time the plane spins off completely to one side. I have good coverage of beamed power, so they should be receiving the same power and producing the thrust.

Can one really be getting that much more power than the other?

Should I hold off until I have an onboard reactor to be using these in symmetry?

[Deredere]

Does anyone else have a problem with thermal rockets giving asymmetrical thrust when placed in symmetry? I have them on a spaceplane getting beamed power, and using the in-line receivers (1.25m). I kick them on at high altitude and 100% of the time the plane spins off completely to one side. I have good coverage of beamed power, so they should be receiving the same power and producing the thrust.

Can one really be getting that much more power than the other?

Should I hold off until I have an onboard reactor to be using these in symmetry?

Yeah you're making a number of logical but incorrect assumptions.

First, that two inline receivers will receive the same power. Whichever receiver has the superior orientation will soak up almost the entirety of the power in your network. The other receiver(s) will only get what the primary receiver cannot due to orientation, which is usually a small fraction of the total and will never be anywhere close enough to equal to give you balanced thrust.

Since the thermal receivers can absorb an infinite amount of power, you can't count on saturating one to fill the others either.

You can use onboard reactors, but for the most part you will be extremely disappointed in the thrusts provided in comparison to microwave power. Antimatter is an exception but fueling a spaceplane with it on the ground is either a logistical nightmare or a bit cheaty, depending on how you get antimatter.

One thing you can consider doing is using plasma rockets. These use megajoules to run and can actually be saturated. The smallest ones I believe use around 3 gigawatts max. You should be able to get 6+ gigawatts from a microwave network easily using either receivers or a thermal receiver paired with a generator. Excess power that one plasma engine cannot handle will be shunted to the other, and as long as you have enough to fill both you won't have asymmetric thrust problems.

However, this is finicky. It isn't something you want to try in an atmosphere. One engine has a habit of flaming out before it realizes that there's enough power in the system for both it and its brother, among other such problems. This can easily spin you out in the atmosphere.

[Donziboy2]

You can use onboard reactors, but for the most part you will be extremely disappointed in the thrusts provided in comparison to microwave power. Antimatter is an exception but fueling a spaceplane with it on the ground is either a logistical nightmare or a bit cheaty, depending on how you get antimatter.

?????

Max weight is 330T....

I took it to Laythe with a 150T payload and flew it around for a while.

Scootaloo your probably safer using a 2.5 receiver and thermal turbo jet on the back of the craft. If you supply enough power and air it will run like an AM plane easy. Also try limiting your throttle, I seem to remember a quirk with the receivers and running full power with the thermal receivers/thermal engines. I will play with it tonight if I get time.

[Deredere]

Oh, right, I forgot about air breathing stuff. Muh bad.

[Donziboy2]

Hmm, I thought he was working with air breathers

When it comes to thermal rockets and receivers its safest to just use 1 large one.

[xfrankie]

@Donziboy2

how does that plane even work? I can see B9 intakes and (most likely) precoolers, but don't the engines need to be attached to a reactor directly? I mean, it shows in the "fuel stats" on the right that you have fusion reactors on board, but shouldn't they be right underneath the jets?

[ABZB]

Um... no. KSP masses are in tons.kilograms.

With KSPI, you can reasonably launch around a thousand tons into low orbit with a powerful microwave network and a plasma thruster running on Xenon.

You're talking about 600 times that.

Oops, my bad. I guess it doesn't really matter though - I would not want to launch a black hole from planetary surface anyway :0

I would imagine launching components to contain/construct it - and utilize mass from asteroids or KBOs to actually form it.

[Donziboy2]

@Donziboy2

how does that plane even work? I can see B9 intakes and (most likely) precoolers, but don't the engines need to be attached to a reactor directly? I mean, it shows in the "fuel stats" on the right that you have fusion reactors on board, but shouldn't they be right underneath the jets?

The magic of part clipping

Some of the reactors in KSPI like the Tokamak will not surface attach so I use the precooler as an attachment point, then stick the reactor inside and place everything on around it.

The downside is the precooler is not functional but I would not have installed it anyway since it would have looked silly lol. It actually makes the engines look cooler since the Tokamak does not visually fit in with some things.

[xfrankie]

The magic of part clipping

Some of the reactors in KSPI like the Tokamak will not surface attach so I use the precooler as an attachment point, then stick the reactor inside and place everything on around it.

The downside is the precooler is not functional but I would not have installed it anyway since it would have looked silly lol. It actually makes the engines look cooler since the Tokamak does not visually fit in with some things.

that's actually really clever. I sometimes use the clipping for shenanigans like rotating big black radiators inside of ships or "impaling" antimatter collectors (see pic), but this is a very pretty design i have to say

[WaveFunctionP]

I never clip because I hate those phantom forces that make your vessel randomly explode.

[Taki117]

Question: When looking at my parts list, how do I tell if my Reactor (Or anything else for that matter) is upgraded or not?

[WaveFunctionP]

Question: When looking at my parts list, how do I tell if my Reactor (Or anything else for that matter) is upgraded or not?

You have to pull out into the vab to tell. The names are different, which doesn't help you if you don't know what it means. Player messaging is an issue with the mod.

[Shadoworgon]

[bumping this because still have this issue ]

So i've run into a bit of a problem i think...

I built an aluminum hybrid rocket with a refinery to hop around the Mun collecting science (pretty much its a copy of Scott Manley's Outlander ship )

and i have a relay system powering it, I can mine alumina, and use it to activate the aluminum electrolysis option and it uses the alumina, but its not giving me any aluminum or oxidizer at all...i even time warped for an hour in game and nothing.. am i doing something wrong or did i break something in my files somehow?

[NeoAcario]

Obsolete Antimatter Farm Station? Just turn off the power and wait!

Problem solved!

(make sure you vacate all other vessels from physical render range)

~Steve

Edited July 8, 2014 by NeoAcario

[NeoAcario]

So I'm stagnating a bit as I wait for 0.24. I don't really run any other complex mods... I'm strongly considering picking up ONE or maybe TWO more. What would you guys recommend? What works flawlessly with KSPI?

Obviously not Kethane. I loved Kethane, that is until KSPI became the beast it is today. Kethane is now totally obsolete. I'm considering things like TAC Life Support or even B9 aerospace.... maybe even deadly re-entry. Hell, with max out tech trees and AM + Plasma... I don't HAVE to use aerobraking at 100Gs. I just do it because it's fun, fast, and easier.

Which would you all suggest I consider adding to my KSP for fun, complexity, and possibly difficulty?

~Steve

[SyberSmoke]

So I'm stagnating a bit as I wait for 0.24. I don't really run any other complex mods... I'm strongly considering picking up ONE or maybe TWO more. What would you guys recommend? What works flawlessly with KSPI?

Obviously not Kethane. I loved Kethane, that is until KSPI became the beast it is today. Kethane is now totally obsolete. I'm considering things like TAC Life Support or even B9 aerospace.... maybe even deadly re-entry. Hell, with max out tech trees and AM + Plasma... I don't HAVE to use aerobraking at 100Gs. I just do it because it's fun, fast, and easier.

Which would you all suggest I consider adding to my KSP for fun, complexity, and possibly difficulty?

~Steve

Kethane has it's uses, there are many mods that have it as a dependency, like Modular Kolonization. I do Modular Kolonization (Link) and it is a good long term mod for planning out an building a functional colony. beyond that it is up to you.

[Mikare12]

I think for difficult you should install RSS.For fun i think, maybe Kerbpaint and KAS.I think you need these mods .

[Lightwarrior]

NeoAcario,

I will probably use TACLS+DRE+FAR.

TACLS works really good with KSPI because it limits timewarping a lot, and FAR+DRE combination is cool by itself, but with KSPI it will limit those crazy reentries as 10+ km/s too.

B9 already has compatibility problems in 0.23/0.23.5, sadly, and it will probably have even more in 0.24, so it seems to be not very good idea.

[NeoAcario]

NeoAcario,

I will probably use TACLS+DRE+FAR.

TACLS works really good with KSPI because it limits timewarping a lot, and FAR+DRE combination is cool by itself, but with KSPI it will limit those crazy reentries as 10+ km/s too.

B9 already has compatibility problems in 0.23/0.23.5, sadly, and it will probably have even more in 0.24, so it seems to be not very good idea.

Dumb and Awesome all at the same time.

Dumb: excessive time warp with actual warp? People do this? (Obviously I know you mean for more rare resource harvesting like H3 or AM)

Awesome: I never even considered FAR. Absolutely perfect combination for DRE. And yeah, I really didn't want B9 anyways... so much bloat.

FAR+DRE seem like no brainers to me. Honestly, the only problem I have with TACLS is that the moddles are just horrible. Guess I can always grab a re-skin... or something. But yeah, this sounds good. I won't even have to make any big changes. Hell, my warp tugs are only out on missions for up to a week at a time (Kerbin time). Usually only 3-5 Kdays. Only thing I'll really have to work with is an AM shuttle/Launch Pad fueler... Minmus mining/fueling base (which is pretty darn pointless at this point, I'll probably decomission it entirely) and Moho/Eeloo science base. Well, and an LKO station that I've yet to build.

Probably have make a 99% Super Computer science base with only 1 science module... with like a year of resources. Heck, should I even bother? I've got over 100k science now...

Sounds fun. Now to search for that re-skined TACLS

~Steve

EDIT:

Having a hard time finding a nice texture for TACLS. Looking for something that fits in well with KSP + KSPI. Something stock/Futuristic looking. Most of them are just full of colors and cartoonish.

EDIT2:

This one looks promising: http://beta.kerbalstuff.com/mod/28/TMS_TAC_Life_Support_Retexture

Edited July 8, 2014 by NeoAcario