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

[Shalashalska]

The electric engines, both plasma and Attila's, have a max usable MJ rating at the very top of their detailed description on the Assembly Building parts list. You can see that their max MJ usage scales up with size. The next higher size is always slightly higher than 4x of the previous, so if you want to be able to use more MJ, use a bigger engine.

As far as the thrust of electric engines, they have a conversion rating of x.xx kN per MJ listed for each type of fuel. Simply multiply the available MJ in the craft by the appropriate fuel type rate for your total thrust. You can easily see that the Attila's have a much higher thrust per unit MJ, but the plasmas have a much better ISP so you'll get much higher dV per unit fuel. The mission profile will dictate your engine needs, as 50k dV is useless when you can't complete your captures because you sail right out of the SOI before completing your burn.

I got to say that the new magnetic nozzle engines are far superior to the rest of the electric engines. They run on charged particles, not MJ, so you have to have upgraded reactor technology to use them. Simply connect a reactor that doesn't have 0.00 charged particle ratio listed; no generator needed. Also, they have zero thrust in atmosphere, so you won't be getting into orbit with them. Sadly, they don't work with microwave receivers, as those collect MJ, not charged particles.

I don't have any information about the different microwave receivers. I only ever use the "umbrella" type because being able to point the receiver regardless of craft orientation outweighs any omnidirectional efficiency the "barrel" types may offer (IMHO.) With that said, though, you'd imagine that the "barrel" types would be better for space planes that don't need the funky drag, and are bathed by microwaves if they're close to your MW transmitters. On the other hand, if you're far enough from your transmitter that the MW source looks like a point in space, then you'd think that being able to point the umbrella at that point would be better, as all receiver area is pointing at the source.

I hope that helps,

Bolter

The barrel types are thermal receivers; they are used for thermal rocket nozzles and thermal turbojets.

[Bolter]

This is incorrect.

He3 is now tweakable in VAB, it is expensive, but available.

And you do not need to shutdown fusion reactor and use EVA, modes can be switched in context menu. You do not even need fuel for this, you can switch modes anyway, and if fuel is not available reactor will just shutdown.

I stand corrected. I just verified that you can indeed buy He3 at the assembly building for v525 per unit. I can also confirm that you can change reactor fuel types on the assembly building with the sliders now. I have not yet verified that you can refuel without EVA in flight, though. I'll have to make a ship for that.

Antimatter seems to remain unavailable through the assembly buildings. I wish it was the other way around because one of the greatest challenges I ever had on the 23.5 interstellar version was getting He3 from Jool's atmo. Antimatter, one could always get from a collector in high orbit around Kerbin.

[sober667]

The barrel types are thermal receivers; they are used for thermal rocket nozzles and thermal turbojets.

yep but they can be used with generators to generate power (i use them for on kerbin electrical vehicles for fast traveling) and with rigth mode on generator u can use it within magnetic nozels

[Northstar1989]

The S-II-B and S-IV-B were LH2/LOX, which provided the vast majority of the DV for the Saturn V. The hypergolics were only used for the lunar circularization, landing, and return.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_V

I think you may be thinking of the Soviet N1, which was entirely RP-1/LOX, with plans for a hypergolic lunar vehicle (I think it was hydrazine)

Yes, my mistake, I was thinking at least partially of the N-1 (or Energyia, perhaps). But my main point was that LH2/LOX were NOT used on the LEM/CEM- so you guys have missed the main point of my post- the gold foil tanks on the LEM were used solely to hold hypergolics, *NEVER* LH2.

Regards,

Northstar

Edited October 17, 2014 by Northstar1989

[Northstar1989]

Then you're doing it wrong. I've actually found my warp ships to be more fuel efficient than my conventional ships most of the time. The trick is to use physics to your advantage.

Say you want to go from Kerbin, which is orbiting at about 9.3K m/s, to Eve, which is currently on the opposite side of the sun orbiting at about 10.8K m/s. If you warp straight there the total delta-v difference is about 20.1k m/s which is a huge difference compared to the 2.3K delta-v of a rather optimal transition. But you can actually off set that by using gravity assist to change your speed.

So let's say looking at the solar systems straight down Kerbin is on the bottom below the sun and Eve is on the top above it. I set the ship to warp past the sun on the right side but break out of warp just before passing the sun. So now you are in fairly close elliptical orbit of the sun. It will slow you down fairly quickly and then send you heading back towards the sun which also happens to be in the same direction Eve is traveling. Wait until you speed gets fairly close to that of Eve and then warp out towards Eve. Sometimes it can take a few micro warp jumps near the sun to get your speed just right but when you do it makes up a huge difference in the amount of Delta-v needed to enter orbit.

For planets with an atmosphere like Eve I often try to align my approach vector so I can use atmospheric breaking. Skimming the atmosphere can slow you down to orbital speeds and really cut down on the need for fuel on your limited Delta-V. For planets without atmosphere I try to do as many micro-warp jumps around the planet to use it's gravity to slow me down until I get into an acceptable window where I won't use that much Delta-v to achieve orbit.

I will admit this method requires a huge amount of skill as there are currently no tools to automate it, as far as I know. It requires a lot of eye balling and winging it since you can't directly compare trajectories along with speed, as well as not being able to directly target locations with warp drive, you simply have to point in the direction and hope the angle is correct along with hitting the stop key on time. I recommend putting the warp go/stop in an action group. But even if you can't get it exact being able to at least ball park could be the difference between spending 20K Delta-V and about 3-5K Delta-V on a rough guess method.

So far I think my one trip to Eve where I only used up like 300 Delta-V was best. Most of the times it's a 1-2K Delta-V burn to enter orbit around a planet which is about what you'd need to burn to leave Kerbin orbit.

This.

Awesomeness. I figured out on paper that this was possible AGES ago, but never had the time to actually attempt it. It's nice to know that it actually works...

Regards,

Northstar

[Spyre2000]

Possible Bug: Where is the 1.25 Alcubierre Drive 11.25M Credits when the 2.5 Alcubierre Drive is only 4.5M?

[niceundtidy]

Hi,

No, Interstellar 0.13 still has the issue with the custom tree in 0.25

The fix is easy, thanks to UndercoverYankee (page 1190, post 11898.)

Step one: Move or delete the TreeLoader folder in Gamedata out of the KSP folder

Step Two: Download the file linked on the page/post above, and place it in you KSP root folder

The progression will be different, as some parts will be on different nodes, but it's playable.

I hope that helps,

Bolter

Well, i think there may be some kind of incompatibility with another mod I'm using. I don't know which one yet. When i install the mod (Except the treeloader) and place the patch in my gamedata root, the game crashes right after it's done loading modules(as in, right before the menu is supposed to show up). It just crashes to desktop with no message whatsoever. When i remove the patch, the same happens, when i remove KSPi, the game loads again.

Grrrrr, i say, grrrrr

[Northstar1989]

@FractalUK

Hey, just an article on ISRU on Mars here that I thought you might find relevant/inspirational:

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/ISRU-III-99/pdf/8004.pdf

Also provides validation for adding a Fischer-Tropsch reaction for use with RealFuels (to produce Kerosene on CO2-rich planets out of LiquidHydrogen and CO2...) if that's at all interesting to you...

Regards,

Northstar

[KeyserSoze]

The reception micro management wasn't added for waste heat IIRC, it was added to allow for fine throttle control. Imagine a small rocket /w thermal receiver and rocket, and a 200GW relay network, the ability to throttle reception allows for you to actually have control of the thrust other than none vs too much.

Conceptually, matching thermal load to power received makes sense as you're asking the relay network to only send you so much power, as opposed to only using x and trying to dissipate y.

I agree! I took a look at the source code, and it seems like it would take less than 20 characters to add that in - all of the necessary variables/values are already there. @FractalUK - thoughts? I'm happy to play around with it if you're busy, but I want to hear your idea on the change, as it definitely affects microwave power networks immensely!

[Drew Kerman]

is the Mass Spectrometer model HUGE for anyone else?

[smart013]

is the Mass Spectrometer model HUGE for anyone else?

Me too, and i dont know why.

[sober667]

I have problem when im using some interstellar parts(probably magnetic nozzle or reactor) game crash in moment of hiting "lauch" button

and magnetic nozles have wrong size(are a litlle bit smaller than they should

[Pono]

Sorry for the newb question but here it goes, I'm relatively new to KSP and I'm super interested in KSP-I. How-ever when I run KSP-I it freezes on the mod loading screen on the same part type every time. I am running .25 and on a 64bit OS, these both are issues I believe, but it seems from the forums some users be running with this setup.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[BigD145]

Possible Bug: Where is the 1.25 Alcubierre Drive 11.25M Credits when the 2.5 Alcubierre Drive is only 4.5M?

Not a bug. It's more expensive because it's smaller. Miniaturization costs money.

Sorry for the newb question but here it goes, I'm relatively new to KSP and I'm super interested in KSP-I. How-ever when I run KSP-I it freezes on the mod loading screen on the same part type every time. I am running .25 and on a 64bit OS, these both are issues I believe, but it seems from the forums some users be running with this setup.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Most mods do not support 64bit. Try 32bit and if it still fails then you will probably be helped.

[Sokar408]

I still can not get the techtree to work, despite advices provided in earlier posts. Can someone walk me through it?

[Reaperxcii]

I still can not get the techtree to work, despite advices provided in earlier posts. Can someone walk me through it?

Have you tried playing standard career mode and not science mode? Thats how i got mine to work.

I myself have 2 problems. The 1st one and im not sure how to test it is when i research something in the R&D center its doesnt progress to the next node until I leave the R&D center then come back, any ideas?

Also my radiators are really busted, it may be because of tweakscale and Interstellar having issues im not sure, but the Huge radiator only disperses 89 MW of power on 100% scale, on 140% it does 382 MW (this is on duel sym so I guess 2 disperse that much) any ideas?

[Moleculor]

I'm having a problem with the tech tree. I've loaded the 'KSP Interstellar' tree, but when I click on the Research button in the tech tree, the tree itself doesn't update to reflect that I've researched that item. I have to exit out of the tree and enter back in to it in order for it to reflect that I've done the research. This means that if I want to do multiple researches and those things I want to research unlock after each other, I have to exit and reenter the tree after each research I activate.

The problem goes away when I remove Interstellar, the standard tree works just fine.

EDIT: Never mind, buried way back about 13 pages back is an explanation that despite the mod being labeled 0.25 compatible, it's not 0.25 compatible, and can't be used. (Link).

Bah.

Edited October 17, 2014 by Moleculor
Finally found an answer.

[BigD145]

Earliest answer found just a few pages back. I do suggest reading the last five or so pages of a mod before saying you're having problems.

Hi,

No, Interstellar 0.13 still has the issue with the custom tree in 0.25

The fix is easy, thanks to UndercoverYankee (page 1190, post 11898.)

Step one: Move or delete the TreeLoader folder in Gamedata out of the KSP folder

Step Two: Download the file linked on the page/post above, and place it in you KSP root folder

The progression will be different, as some parts will be on different nodes, but it's playable.

I hope that helps,

Bolter

[Moleculor]

I do suggest reading the last five or so pages of a mod before saying you're having problems.

I did. The answer wasn't there. Turns out the answer is 10-13 pages back. This answer really should be on the first post, and the thread shouldn't be labeled as 0.25 compatible if it's not.

[Atrius129]

I did. The answer wasn't there. Turns out the answer is 10-13 pages back. This answer really should be on the first post, and the thread shouldn't be labeled as 0.25 compatible if it's not.

KSPi is 0.25 compatible. One of the mods it is dependent on is not. Saying it is 0.25 compatible is more accurate than saying it is not. Alternate solutions are being looked for and Wheaton's law is still in effect.

[BigD145]

I did. The answer wasn't there. Turns out the answer is 10-13 pages back. This answer really should be on the first post, and the thread shouldn't be labeled as 0.25 compatible if it's not.

Welcome to almost every mod here. Many need tweaks, but usually they don't completely crash ksp a few days after a new release. Yes, the users often do have to make those tweaks or make instructions. But Interstellar does work in some capacity after removing treeloader, which itself should have been dropped two versions back. Adding in the cfg to integrate into stock does work.

[Sokar408]

Have you tried playing standard career mode and not science mode? Thats how i got mine to work.

I myself have 2 problems. The 1st one and im not sure how to test it is when i research something in the R&D center its doesnt progress to the next node until I leave the R&D center then come back, any ideas?

Also my radiators are really busted, it may be because of tweakscale and Interstellar having issues im not sure, but the Huge radiator only disperses 89 MW of power on 100% scale, on 140% it does 382 MW (this is on duel sym so I guess 2 disperse that much) any ideas?

I only play standard career mode

[Moleculor]

KSPi is 0.25 compatible. One of the mods it is dependent on is not. Saying it is 0.25 compatible is more accurate than saying it is not. Alternate solutions are being looked for and Wheaton's law is still in effect.

If it breaks the functionality of major features (the entire tech tree) and won't function "out of the box" (nodes missing), it's not functional as-is, and still only compatible with whatever version it was last working under (0.23.5, it seems?).

In addition, if I have to start pulling individual mods out and running through the five minute KSP loading process just to try and track down which mod is causing the problem, then have to dive through 13+ pages of forum posts *hoping* someone else has mentioned the problem, it's a problem that should be fixed/mentioned in the first/initial post of the thread.

KSPi's download should be repaired with the proper fixes, or warnings about it being fundamentally broken as-is should be posted prominently.

To give another example: TAC Life Support "mostly" worked with 0.25, with the exception of a missing control panel and mis-sized parts. Until those issues were fixed, the author did not label their mod as 0.25 compatible, and that's how it should be. KSPi breaks functionality within the base game *and* does not function 'out of the box' as-is, and as such should not be labeled as compatible with 0.25.

[al.bebop]

Anyone else seeing a size issue with the argon tanks? The nodes are in the correct spots but the model itself is scaled down to about .625m size. Is it possibly my install is messed up or is it maybe something in the .cfg?

[toril]

If it breaks the functionality of major features (the entire tech tree) and won't function "out of the box" (nodes missing), it's not functional as-is, and still only compatible with whatever version it was last working under (0.23.5, it seems?).

In addition, if I have to start pulling individual mods out and running through the five minute KSP loading process just to try and track down which mod is causing the problem, then have to dive through 13+ pages of forum posts *hoping* someone else has mentioned the problem, it's a problem that should be fixed/mentioned in the first/initial post of the thread.

KSPi's download should be repaired with the proper fixes, or warnings about it being fundamentally broken as-is should be posted prominently.

To give another example: TAC Life Support "mostly" worked with 0.25, with the exception of a missing control panel and mis-sized parts. Until those issues were fixed, the author did not label their mod as 0.25 compatible, and that's how it should be. KSPi breaks functionality within the base game *and* does not function 'out of the box' as-is, and as such should not be labeled as compatible with 0.25.

all that was inside of tac life support. this is a problem caused by an external mod the author has no control over, the warp plugin and all of its parts are upgraded to .25