[1.8.1] Docking Port Alignment Indicator (Version 6.8.5 - Updated 12/14/19)

[Jim Meillente]

3 hours ago, NavyFish said:

Update Released 

Version 6.5.1 - 10/25/16
[fixed] Fix for Blizzy Toolbar's bug exposed by Contract Configurator
[fixed] Fixed Reference Port text on RPM gauge (and incremented version text)

Hello,

Thank you for the update and all your hard work!

[NavyFish]

28 minutes ago, Jim Meillente said:

Hello,

Thank you for the update and all your hard work!

And thank You, Jim.

Folks, minimal testing on this release hence the sub version number. Please keep a list of bugs or tweaks and I will keep tabs.

I also just wanted to say thank you to everyone here and in particular those of you who have contributed to this mod whether through your code contributions, donations, art, etc. Such things go a long way toward keeping this community, and this plugin alive.

How's 1.2?  I like the UI improvements I saw while updating the mod, but other than some test docks I haven't played KSP in quite some time. Last I did, the wheel issues drove me away as I was conducting an aviation-heavy playthrough.  

If aircraft wheels have been fixed as they claim I may just come back and give it another shot! 

Are custom scenarios now a thing? If so, I would love to include a playable DPAI tutorial with the mod's distribution, but am not going to make one on my own. Anyone interested in contributing?

-Navy

 

[Torih]

@NavyFish Its great, by far the best version. Its running much better. with a lot less garbage collection and just feels better. Wheels are sorted finally, which is nice.

Only issue is the VAB flashes a bit when you get a lot of parts, but its fixed for when 1.2.1 hits..

[NavyFish]

Great to hear, thanks for the report!

[DomiKamu]

Hi NavyFish and thanks a lot for 6.5.1 update !

Unfortunately, the DPAI icon may appear on main menu (after quitting from KSC), but now this issue is more difficult to reproduce.

I precise don't use blizzy78 toolbar, only 1.2 stock.

I'll try (from save) to reproduce, then I'll update this post - if required - by adding link to some files (log and savegame).

Dominique.

 

[NeuroticGamer]

@NavyFish Thanks much for all the work you put into this mod!

As for KSP 1.2: I left the game at like 0.6 (or whenever they first added the Mun when you had to walk uphill both ways to get there and back).  I'm enjoying it.  I didn't have too much trouble with wheels my first go at the new game.  Making a working airplane...that was a whole nuther ballgame

[Tarheel1999]

17 minutes ago, DomiKamu said:

Hi NavyFish and thanks a lot for 6.5.1 update !

Unfortunately, the DPAI icon may appear on main menu (after quitting from KSC), but now this issue is more difficult to reproduce.

I precise don't use blizzy78 toolbar, only 1.2 stock.

I'll try (from save) to reproduce, then I'll update this post - if required - by adding link to some files (log and savegame).

Dominique.

 

@NavyFish Several mods have had this problem including HyperEdit and RCSBuildaid. My understanding is that there is a stock idiosyncrasy in handling app buttons which requires mods to unregister their buttons in certain situations. There's more info in the RCSBuildAid thread. FWIW, I wouldn't prioritize fixing this as it doesn't appear to break anything and only occurs on the Main Menu screen after quitting from the space center. And who knows maybe 1.2.1 will fix this...or not. 

Edited October 26, 2016 by Tarheel1999

[DomiKamu]

2 hours ago, Tarheel1999 said:

@NavyFish Several mods have had this problem including HyperEdit and RCSBuildaid. My understanding is that there is a stock idiosyncrasy in handling app buttons which requires mods to unregister their buttons in certain situations. There's more info in the RCSBuildAid thread. FWIW, I wouldn't prioritize fixing this as it doesn't appear to break anything and only occurs on the Main Menu screen after quitting from the space center. And who knows maybe 1.2.1 will fix this...or not. 

Thanks for your quick and interessing reply, Tarheel1999,

I agree with you because I've seen the same icon issue concerning HyperEdit v1.5.3 (I don't use RCSBuildAid addon, however).

Okay the best way is to wait about KSP 1.2.1, this issue isn't critical.

I'll take a look about "RCSBuildAid" thread ASAP, just for personal knowledge.

Thanks again ! Greetings from France. Dominique

Edited October 26, 2016 by DomiKamu

[DomiKamu]

On 26/10/2016 at 4:34 PM, Tarheel1999 said:

@NavyFish Several mods have had this problem including HyperEdit and RCSBuildaid. My understanding is that there is a stock idiosyncrasy in handling app buttons which requires mods to unregister their buttons in certain situations. There's more info in the RCSBuildAid thread. FWIW, I wouldn't prioritize fixing this as it doesn't appear to break anything and only occurs on the Main Menu screen after quitting from the space center. And who knows maybe 1.2.1 will fix this...or not. 

Unfortunately, this issue isn't fixed in KSP 1.2.1 - EDIT: also for KSP 1.2.2...

Edited January 9, 2017 by DomiKamu

[Tarheel1999]

Fortunately it's largely a non-issue. I'm sure NavyFish will get to it when he has a chance. 

[NavyFish]

 

Thanks folks.  Doesn't sound like it is a big deal honestly, so don't hold your breath for an update. I'll address it in the next release, whenever that may be!

Why don't I just whip out a quick patch?  TBH, the release process alone -- once all code is written and tested -- takes about 30 minutes. Ugh... Update KVC versioning, rewrite the read-me, repackage all source files, upload and wait for validation on curse forge, upload to space port, update hosted changelogs on my server, this thread, curse, space port, then let you fine folks know that an update was released.

There might be better solutions out there but at what setup cost?  Yegh.  https://xkcd.com/1205/ 

Edited November 5, 2016 by NavyFish

[xerogravity]

Totally agree with the xkcd comment on this issue. I for one am just grateful for the time you have already put into this "must have" mod. Generally I resist mods in KSP like mechjeb (I don't want to watch a computer playa computer game on my behalf!) but if I'm being honest, I wouldn't play KSP half as much if I had to dock without DPAI - I'm in control, just using the information available ;-)

So long as functionality is preserved, these minor cosmetic glitches can ride between version (KSP and DPAI) - just hope there are more versions of each to keep compatibility as and when required.

[Apollo13]

..........

Edited November 16, 2016 by Apollo13

[AlexisBV]

I didn't see any comments regarding DPAI specifically on 1.2.1... Is a rebuild necessary or does it work out of the box? CKAN still reports DPAI 6.5.1 as being for 1.2.0 (so it's getting filtered out from the "compatible" list on my 1.2.1 install).

Also, I really like the log scale, mentioned by Andersenman

[razark]

Install it and find out.

 

 

(I haven't had any problems with it in 1.2.1)

[linuxgurugamer]

On 11/4/2016 at 11:52 PM, NavyFish said:

 

Thanks folks.  Doesn't sound like it is a big deal honestly, so don't hold your breath for an update. I'll address it in the next release, whenever that may be!

Why don't I just whip out a quick patch?  TBH, the release process alone -- once all code is written and tested -- takes about 30 minutes. Ugh... Update KVC versioning, rewrite the read-me, repackage all source files, upload and wait for validation on curse forge, upload to space port, update hosted changelogs on my server, this thread, curse, space port, then let you fine folks know that an update was released.

There might be better solutions out there but at what setup cost?  Yegh.  https://xkcd.com/1205/ 

For me, once I'm ready to release, takes about 10 minutes.  I keep a changelog up-to-date as I make changes, so I don't bother rewriting the read-me that often:

1. Update .version file
2. Rebuild release code
3. Run script to build release package (mostly a Windows batch file, a few use a bash shell script)
4. Commit all changes to Git
5. Push changes to github
6. Upload new file to Spacedock (I don't bother with curseforge)
7. Upload new file to Github (this also tags the release for me)
8. Update KSP-AVC web site with correct version
9. Post in appropriate forum

What takes time for me is when I'm doing an initial release for a new (or newly adopted) mod.  Also, I update the version file first because part of the build process embeds the version into the assembly, so that when someone has a problem and send me the log file, I can immediately see which version they are running.  This has helped solve some issues very quickly, when people say that they are running the latest and it turns out they aren't.  So rather than calling someone out, I can simply point to the log file and say that they made a mistake.

Anyway, regarding a quick patch, why don't you do the coding and just make an unofficial dll available?

[WanderingKid]

I will hesitantly say that DPAI is working in 1.2.1 with no changes or issues.  Docking working as expected.

Also thanks a bunch for maintaining this mod, it's one of my favorites.

Edited December 9, 2016 by WanderingKid

[NavyFish]

Good news, thanks for checking.

DPAI is long overdue for some loving attention.  I'm a neglectful creator, good thing the code isn't self-aware.

 

Edited December 12, 2016 by NavyFish
forum glitch?

[NavyFish]

On 11/28/2016 at 6:18 AM, linuxgurugamer said:

For me, once I'm ready to release, takes about 10 minutes.  I keep a changelog up-to-date as I make changes, so I don't bother rewriting the read-me that often:

1. Update .version file
2. Rebuild release code
3. Run script to build release package (mostly a Windows batch file, a few use a bash shell script)
4. Commit all changes to Git
5. Push changes to github
6. Upload new file to Spacedock (I don't bother with curseforge)
7. Upload new file to Github (this also tags the release for me)
8. Update KSP-AVC web site with correct version
9. Post in appropriate forum

What takes time for me is when I'm doing an initial release for a new (or newly adopted) mod.  Also, I update the version file first because part of the build process embeds the version into the assembly, so that when someone has a problem and send me the log file, I can immediately see which version they are running.  This has helped solve some issues very quickly, when people say that they are running the latest and it turns out they aren't.  So rather than calling someone out, I can simply point to the log file and say that they made a mistake.

Anyway, regarding a quick patch, why don't you do the coding and just make an unofficial dll available?

I do have a quick script that copies the output of my VS build directory into my plugin-dev KSP install and then launches the game, which saves oodles of time during development, but sounds like you have a more robust system in place.

Tempted to drop curseforge, honestly. Upload validation takes forever and their post editing tools suck. But, it's the "official" mod site, so..

Anyway, I think the big next step for me will be getting this onto github so others can generate PRs. But, methinks some code cleanup is in order prior to doing so.

-------------

I recently re-wrote a huge portion of the mod. There were two "render paths" that had to be maintained - one for RPM gauges and one for the standalone window. Finally was able to unify those using Unity's Render Textures. I still owe myself a good cleaning pass - there are so many 'magic numbers' floating around the code to deal with text alignment, etc. It's nasty. But at least now when I make a change to the gauge, it needs only happen in one location.

Really what needs to be done next (before any major feature additions..) is a massive overhaul to the mod's core logic, specifically the (unwieldy) section dedicated to detecting when the user changes target. Frankly, I'm stunned it's still working to-date. This stuff was written back around KSP 0.21. At the time, there weren't any game events exposed for things like the user switching targets, etc - but I'm willing to bet those now exist, which could clean up my code significantly.

@linuxgurugamer Aware of any good KSP plugin dev resources? Specifically descriptions of what events can be hooked into and when they fire. I used to follow the patch notes religiously looking for cryptic references to new game events being exposed, but I've been away from that practice for too long. 

 

Edited December 12, 2016 by NavyFish
rant

[linuxgurugamer]

2 hours ago, NavyFish said:

Tempted to drop curseforge, honestly. Upload validation takes forever and their post editing tools suck. But, it's the "official" mod site, so..

I have a few on Curseforge, but not since Spacedock  became available.

2 hours ago, NavyFish said:

linuxgurugamer Aware of any good KSP plugin dev resources? Specifically descriptions of what events can be hooked into and when they fire. I used to follow the patch notes religiously looking for cryptic references to new game events being exposed, but I've been away from that practice for too long

https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/api/index.html

and other mods, and constantly looking for new stuff.

Sorry, no magic bullet.

[NeuroticGamer]

@NavyFish Thanks for the great mod!  It saves me SO much time getting docked to my space stations.

[ctbram]

Does this work with 1.2.2?  CKAN says the mod is outdated.  I can't live without this so I hope is going to be ported.

[Jebs_SY]

I had no problems on 1.2.2, yet.

[nukeboyt]

5 hours ago, ctbram said:

Does this work with 1.2.2?  CKAN says the mod is outdated.  I can't live without this so I hope is going to be ported.

Do you know how to install a mod without CKAN?   It is not difficult whatsoever.   If you are using windows, you simply download the zip file for the mod you want to install, (In this case Docking_Port_Alignment_Indicator-6.5.1.zip) and then double-click the zip file to open it to see the contents.  If there is a GameData folder inside the zip file, double-click to open that also.   Then,  Open another file explorer window (Win-key + E) and go to the KSP folder on your computer.    In the KSP folder, double-click the GameData folder to open it up.     Then you just drag & drop the  mod's folder (in this case "NavyFish") from the zip file and drop it in the GameData folder on your computer.    If you do not already have ModuleManager in your computer's GameData folder, copy that over also.  That's all there is to it.   You open two windows and you perform a drag and drop.    Hope this helps.    CKAN is great and all, but perhaps it causes people to think that installing mods is difficult when it really isn't

[NavyFish]

On 12/12/2016 at 5:29 PM, linuxgurugamer said:

Sorry, no magic bullet.

Le sigh. Thought not

Anyone know if that issue between CKAN and Module Manager was ever resolved? Last I checked (when dinosaurs ruled the earth), MM refused to be listed on CKAN, thus DPAI and other mods which depended on it couldn't be listed either. I assume this is still the case, as prior to all that mess someone had been keeping the CKAN metadata alive for DPAI (thanks mysterious internet people). Only once did I ever 'actively' make changes to that metadata, and that was when I brought the RPM module online - nothing since.