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

[sober667]

0.9 is comeing shortly so maby fractal will back when its out

[T0t@1_N3WB]

Hi you all as my name says im a total N00b and so I installed the mod started up KSP watched some tutorials and decided to make my first Thermal poweted spaceplane i tried different engines but they dont have any thrust

They do have the animations and specific impulse but they dont have any thrust even with unlimited fuel please help because i love how the parts look and the awesome things i can make with them Thanks in advance

[sal_vager]

Hi T0t@1_N3WB, make sure there are no other parts of the same vessel blocking the thrust, if there is you will get nothing.

If you press F3 to view the flight log you will see parts being damaged by engine exhaust.

[Atrius129]

Hi you all as my name says im a total N00b and so I installed the mod started up KSP watched some tutorials and decided to make my first Thermal poweted spaceplane i tried different engines but they dont have any thrust

They do have the animations and specific impulse but they dont have any thrust even with unlimited fuel please help because i love how the parts look and the awesome things i can make with them Thanks in advance

It could be a blocked thruster, but with KSPi I would say it would more likely be incorrectly setup. If you are using thermal rockets, they need to be attached directly to the reactor. The reactor needs fuel and you need heatsinks. If you haven't figured it out yet, post a pic and we should be able to identify the problem.

[Janack42]

First time poster on the forums so please bear with. I am running KSP .25 in 32bit mode due to most of the mods not running in 64bit windows mode. The mod lists I run are comparable to Scott Manley's Interstellar web series. I'm trying to install Interstellar 0.13 and I'm running in to a game crash error. I've tried deleting and installing the TechManager mod in place of TreeLoader. Without Interstellar my game runs smoothly, so any help would be appreciated.

[sidfu]

First time poster on the forums so please bear with. I am running KSP .25 in 32bit mode due to most of the mods not running in 64bit windows mode. The mod lists I run are comparable to Scott Manley's Interstellar web series. I'm trying to install Interstellar 0.13 and I'm running in to a game crash error. I've tried deleting and installing the TechManager mod in place of TreeLoader. Without Interstellar my game runs smoothly, so any help would be appreciated.

sounds like a OOM(out of memory crash).

[Rebelgamer]

I would recommend getting ATM, and running ksp with the -force -opengl comand line option.

[Lei07]

Another way of helping your memory usage is to downgrade a couple of mods. If, like many (including myself :-) ) you base your install on the mods used in Interstellar Quest you'll be using EVE and Better Atmospheres, right?

To prevent using ATM, as fantastic a tool as it is, making the textures smudgy and causing issues with icons, simply downgrade EVE to low res and BA to medium res. For me, on a small 17inch monitor, there is little to choose between them and it knocks off almost a gig of memory. Mileage on larger screens and better pcs may vary.

You have to remember that Scott is able to use the 64bit build on the version of KSP that he uses for IQ. In the current version, limited to 32bit, such a thing isn't possible anymore. I'm able to run all the mods I like and infact able to further add some rather hefty ones ontop.

ATM is great but I'd rather hold out as long as possible before using it, and the OpenGL mode just doesn't agree with me, so this was a great way of freeing up some memory. Here's hoping that Squad will rework 64bit for Beta than Ever. :-)

Hope this helps!

[Atrius129]

Beta 0.9 is out!

Fractal, where is the release!?

Just kidding. Good luck everybody.

[onefstsnake]

Beta 0.9 is out!

Fractal, where is the release!?

Just kidding. Good luck everybody.

Im currently rolling back from the auto update... Since 90% of my mods aren't compatible with .90 yet.

.90 looks nice though

[Threadsinger]

Im currently rolling back from the auto update... Since 90% of my mods aren't compatible with .90 yet.

.90 looks nice though

Hehe. I just got my ass to Duna at long last using my version of the Interstellar Quest modlist (and all the wonderful headaches that go with it), and they release this awesome (but personally ill-timed update)!

It's almost like Christmas, except you need to wait a week before your rocket ship's fusion reactors get that vital firmware update, lest the tree go up in nuclear fire.

Gonna go mirror a vanilla version of KSP and play with the new features, should be interesting! (But wierd, since I will totally get bummed out when I max out at NERVAs and PB-Ion engines...)

[DivisionByZero]

Hehe. I just got my ass to Duna at long last using my version of the Interstellar Quest modlist (and all the wonderful headaches that go with it), and they release this awesome (but personally ill-timed update)!

It's almost like Christmas, except you need to wait a week before your rocket ship's fusion reactors get that vital firmware update, lest the tree go up in nuclear fire.

Gonna go mirror a vanilla version of KSP and play with the new features, should be interesting! (But wierd, since I will totally get bummed out when I max out at NERVAs and PB-Ion engines...)

I'm with you Threadsinger. My motivation to keep on going with my current career is waning... but then there's no real way to tell when this mod will get updated and I just love the reactor tech and new propulsion systems in this mod...

We can just hope Fractal gets back soon!

[ABZB]

I tried just recompiling with new version dlls - no dice (unless I made an error not currently obvious to me).

[SciMan]

I'm fine with waiting for KSP Interstellar to update.

That being said, there's a few bugs with the heat system that need fixing:

If you have a microwave thermal receiver connected to a thermal generator, that generator won't generate any waste heat no matter how inefficient it is. A ship powered with this method does need radiators for other sources of waste heat (plasma thrusters, etc.) but the generator itself won't ever generate waste heat.

On the other hand, if you use a microwave electrical receiver, it doesn't matter how many radiators you put on, you WILL get an overheat-induced shutdown. I tried using 24 Large Flat Radiators in one case and it still overheated. It could be you need to dissapate the total recieved power of your microwave power network to avoid an overheat, but I don't know for sure because I have something like 400GW of power available on my LKO microwave net (Antimatter power rules, and I can afford paying for it instead of collecting it).

Bottom line: Something in the microwave power code is messing with waste heat generation or radiator effectiveness.

Heat should always be generated in proportion to (power demand X all inefficiency factors).

Also, the thermal planner is wrong in a bunch of places. Thermal source temperatures on a few reactors show up wrong (Kiwi/SAFE-1500/Agelates), and using base values for radiators when it should be using upgraded ones (sethlans/ akula reactors cause this, so do microwave thermal receivers).

In-flight checks reveal that the correct numbers are being used there, so the thermal helper is the thing at fault here.

At least it always underestimates the performance you would actually get.

EDIT:

While we're talking about bugs, I noticed that several engines re-calculate their "maximum thrust" value depending on how much power is available. That's fine, but the calculation currently used to do that seems to factor in the current throttle setting. This seemingly little thing has huge effects. It makes MechJeb unable to use plasma thrusters or magnetic nozzles to land, because it can't tell when to start the braking burn. It also throws off maneuver node execution, and even the stock maneuver node burn time estimate.

Additionally, the thrust-to-weight estimates that MechJeb produces in the VAB are never accurate. The delta-V is right, but the TWR and burn time are not.

TO VERIFY:

Must have KSPI and MechJeb installed.

Use a 3.75m magnetic nozzle connected to the upgraded AIM reactor.

At zero throttle, MechJeb reports 1 nanokN thrust available.

Crack the throttle open even a little bit, and MechJeb reports the expected maximum of 675kN thrust available, and that doesn't change until the throttle is at zero again.

I looked at the code for the magnetic nozzles, and it seems like maximum thrust should only depend on reactor size vs nozzle size, and reactor power. Somehow, the current throttle setting got in there as well.

Plasma thrusters display similar symptoms.

Use a 1.25m antimatter reactor to power a 1.25m plasma thruster.

At launch, MechJeb has the same estimates as it did in the VAB. As soon as you apply thrust, MechJeb will re-calculate to be somewhere close to correct. Full throttle, it will change to the correct values. Near-zero throttle (probably around 0.5% or so), MechJeb will over-estimate the maximum thrust the engine can put out by a rather obvious margin.

Another bug with plasma thrusters is that if you have more than one plasma thruster, one engine seems to lead the others by a single physics frame for some reason.

This makes MechJeb's landing autopilot absolutely useless because the torque from the unbalanced thrust will make it cut the throttle instantly when it tries to start the braking burn, meaning it "stutters" the engines all the way into a crash landing unless you take over manually. I can save a ship that encounters such a situation, but I'm sure I spend more fuel than MechJeb would, and I'm always off target by at least 100m.

Additionally, the thrust estimation bug with magnetic nozzles means that MechJeb will crash the ship because this happens: Engine reports "effectively zero max thrust", MechJeb commands full throttle, engine reports "675 kN max thrust", MechJeb commands engine off, repeat until impact at high velocity.

If the ship has LFO engines as well as KSPI plasma thrusters and magnetic nozzle engine, MechJeb will crash if I try to use either of the KSPI engine types, but it will land nominally if I have just the LFO engines active. This means that the problem is with how certain KSPI engine types change their max thrust depending on throttle setting.

Edited December 16, 2014 by SciMan

[chaoservices]

Happy to say I don't play KSP without this mod! It is really of the best.

It is inconvenient via updates for me but I assume you have a good reason not to join in KerbalStuff.com.

But I am curious why.

[Jarardo1]

How do updates normally go with previous version saves? Once all mods are updated is there a chance the .25 saves will work?

The new features look cool, but I have launched about 25 ships to Jool, Duna and Eloo over the last 2 weeks and none of them have even arrived yet!

[ss8913]

I've noticed SciMan's issues as well - My 400GW antimatter power generator has a ton of radiators and I have to turn the transmitter down to about 50-60% to avoid an overheat no matter how many radiators I add. Although.. if it works better on the ground, we could just have a ground power station pointing upwards to a mesh of 3 or 4 geostationary relays in orbit - relays don't overheat.

[Threadsinger]

I'm with you Threadsinger. My motivation to keep on going with my current career is waning... but then there's no real way to tell when this mod will get updated and I just love the reactor tech and new propulsion systems in this mod...

We can just hope Fractal gets back soon!

Indeed, I do hope he returns as well, although I understand this is his hobby, not his job! (And WaveFraction, if you're still lurking, we like yours too!!) I still love seeing the gradual experience increase from the basic, starting engine, to the bigger and badder Mainsails, the PB-Ion, the ARM ones, the NERVA, KSPI ion-engines, basic fission, microwave, basic fusion, etc etc etc. KSPI is my must have mod for KSP (although I do appreciate KSP for its casual-accurate space exploration philosphy as a vanilla product)...

I think whilst I wait for the modlists to update (including this one), I shall backup my save, wipe clean the folder, and try a run using all of RoverDude's excellent modpacks (which I've never done). As noted above, I still prefer the large range of incremental propulsion increases, but I shall enjoy this brief respite from imminent antimatter containment failure and see how his fusion engines and torchdrive compares to the awesome power (and abuse) of antiprotons.

I will still be checking back, hoping for an update! Ike won't orbital bombard itself!

[Jarardo1]

Anyone have problems with more than 1 Microwave receiver/thermal rocket on a craft? I have a craft in orbit that has one thermal rocket on each side of the craft, so they both need to fire at the same time or the craft will just spin veryvery fast. It worked fine during launch, but now that it's in orbit I can only get 1 of the receivers to get any power. The other just shows 0 input. Changing the reception on either one hasn't had an effect.

I thought maybe adding an action group to activate them both at the same time might work for future craft, haven't tried it yet though.

Thanks!

[sprocketdrox]

Looking for a copy of .12 please.

[Deredere]

How do updates normally go with previous version saves? Once all mods are updated is there a chance the .25 saves will work?

The new features look cool, but I have launched about 25 ships to Jool, Duna and Eloo over the last 2 weeks and none of them have even arrived yet!

A virtual certainty, although be sure to back up your save before attempting to load it, because if you've forgotten a mod - or a mod has discontinued a part that you've used - any ship with the missing parts will be erased from the space-time continuum.

[Shurikeeen]

Does this work with 0.90?

[ABZB]

Does this work with 0.90?

not as of yet

[Cyk0]

Does there exist a less ambitious version of this mod (or something like it), specifically im just after a simplified version of the reactor gameplay. (no need to even bother with fueling the reactor)

Basically a separate reasonably heavy fission reactor (end balance along the lines of a nerva) that can be used to drive a generator or a thermal rocket nozzle (A nozzle that can go on LFO, liquid or atmo)

Ability to scoop up atmo and store it in tanks as reaction mass would be nice for extended flights to other bodies as well but I don't even think that is possible in interstellar atm?

Soo... any Ideas?

[undercoveryankee]

Does there exist a less ambitious version of this mod (or something like it), specifically im just after a simplified version of the reactor gameplay. (no need to even bother with fueling the reactor)

Basically a separate reasonably heavy fission reactor (end balance along the lines of a nerva) that can be used to drive a generator or a thermal rocket nozzle (A nozzle that can go on LFO, liquid or atmo)

Ability to scoop up atmo and store it in tanks as reaction mass would be nice for extended flights to other bodies as well but I don't even think that is possible in interstellar atm?

Soo... any Ideas?

Some parts of Near Future Technologies play something like what you're thinking of, but relying on electrical engines and not thermal. Between Interstellar 0.11 and 0.13, WaveFunctionP did KSPI Lite that has almost all of Interstellar's gameplay, but with fewer parts where you have to choose operating modes and more stock-friendly numbers. Nothing that's exactly what you're looking for.