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

[Myrten]

Anyone have screenies of the new microwave Thermal Rocket in action??

Still working on getting through to the higher end techs, just getting Nukes unlocked....

I've made no screenshots but it works very nice, with around 8 GW of input power my small rocket consisting only of necessary parts got like 10 km/s delta V and when I test fired it straight up it broke Sun's escape velocity

[forsaken1111]

Those purple things look ugly, you should implement Kethane to this. I don't know, however, how much time that would take. But you should at least consider it.

Fractal has already said this will not happen as the two resource systems are not handled the same, and he does not want to require you to install any other mods to use his.

[KvickFlygarn87]

Fractal has already said this will not happen as the two resource systems are not handled the same, and he does not want to require you to install any other mods to use his.

Well first of all, the Interstellar pack download also includes TreeLoader, HexCans, and one other I can't remember right now.

Second of all, nobody said the mining needs to be handled by Kethane. I meant just the scanning handled by Kethane, because those purple blobs look so bloody ugly.

[forsaken1111]

Well first of all, the Interstellar pack download also includes TreeLoader, HexCans, and one other I can't remember right now.

Second of all, nobody said the mining needs to be handled by Kethane. I meant just the scanning handled by Kethane, because those purple blobs look so bloody ugly.

Yes, I addressed your point. The kethane resource system and the one Fractal uses are entirely different, so the kethane scanning won't work. Just because you think something is ugly isn't a reason for him to change his mod.

[KvickFlygarn87]

Yes, I addressed your point. The kethane resource system and the one Fractal uses are entirely different, so the kethane scanning won't work. Just because you think something is ugly isn't a reason for him to change his mod.

Well, true, but using Kethane API would make it very streamlined for people using both. Also, I don't quite understand what you mean by "entirely different". Is it codewise different, or does Fractal merely have another target for his recourses?

[forsaken1111]

Well, true, but using Kethane API would make it very streamlined for people using both. Also, I don't quite understand what you mean by "entirely different". Is it codewise different, or does Fractal merely have another target for his recourses?

As I understand it Fractal's reasources are mapped onto the planet surface where kethane uses a grid of cells each with a random and finite amount of a resource in them. With Fractal's system you will not 'run out' of a resource and resources can be found everywhere in varying quantities and concentrations while with Kethane you can empy out a cell and there is no more kethane.

With Fractal's system you don't have to land exactly on the marker to mine a resource either, that is just the point of greatest concentration in the area. Even if you land a few KM away you should still get some, just less than if you were on the hotspot. In Kethane if you miss the target cell you get nothing from an empty one, even if its less than a meter away from a full cell.

It is a different system using different methods and code.

Here is Fractal's reply to the last (of dozens) person to ask the same question:

I could have but there are several issues with that idea, it adds dependencies meaning that people have to have Kethane installed in order to take advantage of primary features of this mod. Kethane doesn't support resources being available everywhere in varying quantities, it works off fixed deposits and elsewhere there is nothing. I have control over the exact positions of all resources which gives me certain options for future updates.

I've also set things up somewhat differently, these resources will be the same for everyone, which has both benefits and drawbacks but it does mean you can share and discuss good resource locations on each planet.

I think both the Kethane and this resource system can happily sit side by side, each having slightly different applications.

Edited November 27, 2013 by forsaken1111

[KvickFlygarn87]

Oh, OK then. Now I see how it is. Thanks for explaining. However, I think Kethane integration had been better but we will just have to agree to disagree.

EDIT: A slight prettification (is that a word?) can do the trick, but I still think Kethane integration would have been the best.

[Majiir]

Just want to clear up a few points:

As I understand it Fractal's reasources are mapped onto the planet surface where kethane uses a grid of cells each with a random and finite amount of a resource in them. With Fractal's system you will not 'run out' of a resource and resources can be found everywhere in varying quantities and concentrations while with Kethane you can empy out a cell and there is no more kethane.

The new resource generator system added in Kethane 0.8 allows for this sort of behavior. Generator classes have full control over how resources are generated, distributed, manipulated and saved.

With Fractal's system you don't have to land exactly on the marker to mine a resource either, that is just the point of greatest concentration in the area. Even if you land a few KM away you should still get some, just less than if you were on the hotspot. In Kethane if you miss the target cell you get nothing from an empty one, even if its less than a meter away from a full cell.

You could achieve this by marking every cell (or most cells) as containing the resource, but change the reported quantity to reflect density. Since the reported quantity doesn't have to agree with the results of drilling, you could have an infinite resource while still rendering a surface distribution. The distribution would still be discretized by the grid, but I'll be adding a scalar field view as well.

I have no problems with Fractal_UK building his own resource system. That said, Kethane's system is quite flexible, and much of that flexibility hasn't been tapped by any mod, Kethane included. I'm also happy to support other mods by expanding the API where it's needed.

[KhaosCorp]

I like that the resource system is different than Kethane. And just for clarification...the mods included with KSPI are allwoed to be included with other mods, so no aditional downloads are required. This would not be the case with kethane, as its license forbids others to distribute the download. So not a good comparison you made there.

[forsaken1111]

Just want to clear up a few points:

The new resource generator system added in Kethane 0.8 allows for this sort of behavior. Generator classes have full control over how resources are generated, distributed, manipulated and saved.

You could achieve this by marking every cell (or most cells) as containing the resource, but change the reported quantity to reflect density. Since the reported quantity doesn't have to agree with the results of drilling, you could have an infinite resource while still rendering a surface distribution. The distribution would still be discretized by the grid, but I'll be adding a scalar field view as well.

I have no problems with Fractal_UK building his own resource system. That said, Kethane's system is quite flexible, and much of that flexibility hasn't been tapped by any mod, Kethane included. I'm also happy to support other mods by expanding the API where it's needed.

Hey that's awesome news! I didn't realize that Kethane's system had been changed.

[catastrophy]

How did this go with including the refinery part in the cfg? I have no clue what to type in there.

Edit: Nevermind - I just installed the hotfix. Wohoo, Count Nukular is about to do some core science!

Edited November 27, 2013 by catastrophy

[Misaka]

So.. I installed this and the Nuclear generators are hilariously large.. the smallest one is bigger than even the biggest rocket tanks. o.O

EDIT: Well, I reloaded the game it fixed itself.. not sure what happened there.

Edited November 27, 2013 by Misaka
It fixed itself

[NotCoach]

So.. I installed this and the Nuclear generators are hilariously large.. the smallest one is bigger than even the biggest rocket tanks. o.O

I think you made the same mistake I did and neglected to delete the old install before installing the update. I had the same problem as you until I deleted Interstellar entirely and installed it again.

[Fractal_UK]

The new resource generator system added in Kethane 0.8 allows for this sort of behavior. Generator classes have full control over how resources are generated, distributed, manipulated and saved.

You could achieve this by marking every cell (or most cells) as containing the resource, but change the reported quantity to reflect density. Since the reported quantity doesn't have to agree with the results of drilling, you could have an infinite resource while still rendering a surface distribution. The distribution would still be discretized by the grid, but I'll be adding a scalar field view as well.

I have no problems with Fractal_UK building his own resource system. That said, Kethane's system is quite flexible, and much of that flexibility hasn't been tapped by any mod, Kethane included. I'm also happy to support other mods by expanding the API where it's needed.

It's quite interesting to hear how the Kethane resource system has changed, I haven't really had chance to look at Kethane since 0.7.X so I'm unfamiliar with these changes.

I like that the resource system is different than Kethane. And just for clarification...the mods included with KSPI are allwoed to be included with other mods, so no aditional downloads are required. This would not be the case with kethane, as its license forbids others to distribute the download. So not a good comparison you made there.

This is, indeed, one of the problems with doing so. It would be possible to include a soft-dependence on Kethane for all of the resource stuff but that would make it required for everything resource-based, people without would lose that functionality completely. Since I want to expand the resource system, that idea isn't really ideal. The alternative would be a hard dependence which isn't practical with either a mod the size and scale of Kethane or, likewise, one that prohibits redistribution.

[wooaa]

Anyone know how to get fusion generators to work?

[Fractal_UK]

Anyone know how to get fusion generators to work?

You need some power to start them up, a 1.25m nuclear reactor + generator will fill the power requirements.

[RussPixie]

After my hiccups earlier this week, I thought I'd post a little image to show that things seem to be working now

My current LKO Station:

Many thanks for a great mod

Russ

[Jasmir]

Hi Fractal, i have some strange problems:

My Motherships refused to produce electric charge around jool with the normal nuclear reactor + generator combo. But the same combo on my rover at laythe works.

Here is the save and the KSP Log: KSP_save_log.7z

If you need other information to hunt this down, please tell me.

[Myrten]

I've tried using refinery and thorium reactors but both of them don't work for me

Refinery:

First of all side attachment point doesn't work so only way to place it on ship is on top of something...

I've placed it on launch pad put some tritium tanks onto it + power and set it to mine TF4, it actually displayed that it mines something like 0.xxL/hour but no TF4 is actually extracted and put into my tanks.

Reactors:

If I understand correctly to use TF4 instead of UF4 I have to switch off reactor in EVA, swap fuel and switch it back but here is what happens:

1)I go on EVA and shutdown reactor

2)Wait some time for it to cool down

3)Go back on EVA and press swap fuel

4)Restart reactor in EVA

5)Now when I go back to ship reactor produces the same amount of energy, I think it's still running on UF4

[wooaa]

Thanks a bunch. I dont know how I missed that.

[Fractal_UK]

Hi Fractal, i have some strange problems:

My Motherships refused to produce electric charge around jool with the normal nuclear reactor + generator combo. But the same combo on my rover at laythe works.

Here is the save and the KSP Log: KSP_save_log.7z

If you need other information to hunt this down, please tell me.

Is everything that requires megajoules working correctly on the ship around Jool, do you know? I have a suspicion what this could be.

[Fractal_UK]

I've tried using refinery and thorium reactors but both of them don't work for me

Refinery:

First of all side attachment point doesn't work so only way to place it on ship is on top of something...

I've placed it on launch pad put some tritium tanks onto it + power and set it to mine TF4, it actually displayed that it mines something like 0.xxL/hour but no TF4 is actually extracted and put into my tanks.

The refinery attachment nodes are proving to be a nightmare, sorry about that. The stock game seems to only allow attachment nodes to work in pairs, so this is very much an issue I'm grappling with and trying to find a solution to.

Did you add Tritium tanks or Thorium tanks? You need Thorium tanks to mine ThF4. There isn't a very high abundance on the launchpad either so it won't fill up at all quickly, there is a good mining location not far west of KSC though, you should be able to find that with the Gamma Ray Spectrometer.

Reactors:

If I understand correctly to use TF4 instead of UF4 I have to switch off reactor in EVA, swap fuel and switch it back but here is what happens:

1)I go on EVA and shutdown reactor

2)Wait some time for it to cool down

3)Go back on EVA and press swap fuel

4)Restart reactor in EVA

5)Now when I go back to ship reactor produces the same amount of energy, I think it's still running on UF4

Had you been using the reactor for a while? Basically, you can only swap fuels when the reactor is more or less empty of Actinides so if you've been running the reactor with Uranium for a while, you need to do some reprocessing before you can change fuel type. I know this isn't clear at the moment and I'll try to make this system more transparent.

[ExEvolution]

Not sure if a bug but I put two of those thorium/uranium scanners on my ship and I wanted to set one to thorium and one to uranium, but setting one of them sets both at the same time

[Fractal_UK]

Not sure if a bug but I put two of those thorium/uranium scanners on my ship and I wanted to set one to thorium and one to uranium, but setting one of them sets both at the same time

Display on the map of only one resource is supported at the moment, this can be changed in the future to make multiple displays possible but at this early stage in this resource system's life, I'd rather err on the side of caution and just make sure the system is working nicely before I make it more complicated.

[babbos]

Is there a way to view the microwave network in the map view like the remote tech net?

I'm still not 100% if the tx/rx dishes need to be actually alligned between crafts or just open and have line of sight to work