Kerbals in Space (KIS) mission pack. (Development)

[Geckgo]

okay, Telescope mission bug fixed. inclination should now be 0-5 either north or south.

[Stargate525]

OH! That reminds me. Any reason why each part is its own goal?

[Geckgo]

Yep, That's how they show up when you don't use a certain type of module in the script. It doesn't seem to affect how the mission plays so I've left it alone. I really don't want to group them with the submission{} module because it creates other problems. When I get all the missions finished I may take another look to see if I can polish it a bit but for now it's just the way that I need to write it to keep everything working smoothly.

[Geckgo]

Just noticed a bug with the script and/or mission controller. The passive missions (daily payout) don't seem to be incrimenting the bank account. This could be caused by several reasons including updating mid-game. I'm going to keep researching this to find an answer, but if you experience this bug as well, please let me know. Also please include which version of the mission pack and MC you are using, as well as if you kept your save if/when you updated the mission pack. Thanks guys, sorry about this, I'll work on it as I get time. I'm back on the rig now working nights so my time will be limited.

[Geckgo]

I sent malkuth a message about the trouble that I'm having with Passive missions to see if perhaps he knows what is wrong with my script and why the passive missions are not paying out. I'll keep you guys posted on the bug status. Doing some beta testing of the pack tonight and I'll hopefully be getting some more missions out soon.

[Boamere]

Love this mission pack , I have just started your SSTO line of missions and this is the plane i built, it completely smashed the first three challenges without having to land

"Break the sound barrier they said, It would be hard they said"

I was travelling at well over a mile per second

Love this pack keep up the good work

Edited August 30, 2013 by Boamere

[Geckgo]

LOL, NICE!

It's posts like this that keep me working on this script You should put on one of the lifesupport mods, they make the whole thing a bit more groovy, but that's just my opinion. When I get the spacestation section of the pack done they will definitely up the difficulty a bit.

[Geckgo]

Malkuth replied to my message and I've got the pay-over-time missions sorted out I think. Might work on the pack tonight but I'm currently in the middle of fixing my laptop so I don't have a good text editor installed at the moment.

For LINUX users: I finally had the last straw with thunar, do I dropped XFCE and I'm heading to greener pastures. I have Apt downloading Kwin atm so I can't install any new text editors till it's done on this slow internet connection. Wish I would have thought about that sooner, working on the pack would be a good way to kill time while waiting for the download. I tried to edit it in nano but it's, well, it's nano, not really set up for my style of editing. Once I sort out the xinit revamp that I'm doing I'll be back to work on the script.

[Geckgo]

Computer is all suped up (finally) and back to being a workstation again, so I'm probably going to be hard at work on this tonight. Now that I've got the whole extended rewards thing down, I'm going to spend a lot of time re-vamping the whole pack to make it more of a paid-by-commission type pack, which I think will not only increase the difficulty but the depth and scope, not to mention making it more fun

0.6 release will probably be of this nature, but I'm going to try not to break the structure of the missions that are already in place, as they seem to work pretty good. I'll keep you guys posted as I do more on it, but with a LOT of luck, I may get the time to finish 0.6 tonight and release it in the morning. Keeping my fingers crossed for that, hopefully I don't burn out on it or get really busy.

[Kalista]

Could I make a small request if your about to update the mod? Could we get a mission to land a probe on the mun (only body I think there isnt one to do ) possibly before the manned landing mission. Also could you think about adding a land a rover mission ( not a probe a real wheeled rover) on Duna? Those two are the only mission I can think of offhand that seem to be missing

[Geckgo]

I might be able to swing a landed probe to Mun, maybe replace mission 14 or 15 with a lander probe. This will break completion of 14 and 15, but to get access to the contracts the pack needs to be restarted anyways. I think i can do that. I'll get on it tonight. I did a lot of work last night updating probe (orbit) missions to every planet and mun, including a lander on laythe. The lack of Mun missions is probably due to my personal bias, as I prefer Minmus as a hotspot, but I should really do more with Mun as that seems to be the favorite, especially for newer players.

The problem with rovers at this point is that without deciding on a specific mission part to define them (I.E. normal rover wheels) I can't see any way to determine that it's a rover rather than an ordinary probe, and even with the part mod, it's easy to cheat and just stick 4 wheels on a lander somewhere even if it never rolls. But then, if people wanted to "cheat" I doubt they would download my add-on. I was going to (update after the upcomming) make a series of missions to Duna, probes, stations, the whole chi-bang, so it's in the works. Right now I'm focused on getting the kethane mod fully integrated into the mission pack (did a lot of work on that last night) and developing the station missions (plan to do tonight, one for kerbin and one for Minmus). I'll see what I can do about putting a couple of my early Duna missions in the pack tonight but no promises. If I manage to finish everything else and it's going to hold up the update, I might wait for the next one to put in a full Duna set of missions (and another for Laythe). It's comming, I still have a LOT of testing to do to make sure all the new missions are working and that the finances are tight. I'll toss a Mun lander in there tonight too.

Thank you so much for your input Kalista, it's always appriciated, and I will do what I can to keep improving the pack.

[replica17]

Love it! Keep up the good work mate!

[Kalista]

Even tho it wouldn't solve the concerns you have about a rover mission you could always require the little rovemate core as a required then a bonus on the rover wheels seeing as i never even use the rovemate it would atleast give a reason to dust that part off.

edit: Just had a brainstorm the rover mission could be something like this. Rovemate, x Electrical charge, No Solid,Liquid or Xenon fuels Manditory then assign other parts with optional rewards keeping the base low in return. That way say building a larger Curiosity style rover with more parts and an RTG would overall net more (assuming an economical Delivery system) than say the absolute basic rover would.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Kalista

[Geckgo]

could be, but some (myself included) like to attach a landing package to their rover with some little jets to assist landing (on bodies with no atmo). Got another question for you guys though. I'm trying to evaluate this Jool mission to make sure it will work and it's going to take me a while b/c i've never been there yet. How much do you think probes should cost to various planets. I'm not the type of person to wait around for the orbital trajectories to line up so I force my probes toward other worlds, unless they are Mun and Duna. My rocket to Duna cost 150k and got me in a kadywampus orbit that let me snag the Ike mission as well. For 200k I've got a rocket that should reach Jool (starting the test soon). I just stuck the rockets together real quick and went for it. What kind of rocket costs is everyone getting for interplanetary missions?

[Geckgo]

Another update. Won't be releasing tonight. Testing took a lot longer than I thought it would, got bit by the kracken while on my Jool missions and was not expecting it. Good news is that asside from the little changes I made to the mun missions (Thanks to Kalista's request) everything is beta tested up except making sure the flow of the initial missions is still intact. Also need to beef up the storyboard a bit, and I still gotta make the space station missions. I'm over 60 missions now as of last count, which was my goal before releasing 0.60. Looks like it will end up with more than that though. After all the testing and fixing I may call it 0.61 instead. I'm hoping within the next 2 days at the most for the release.

[Ratzap]

Good work Geckgo, I keep downloading the newer versions and testing too

To answer your question, on interplanetary missions I use the most efficient orbits possible. Probes to Jool barely cost more than to Minmus, just a lot of warp time. So for 50k or less I can get all the way out.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Ratzap

[Geckgo]

Okie dokie. That sounds pretty darn efficient, which my testing ships are often not. I slap something together, shotgun out of Kerbin SOI, then line the planet up like I would going to Mun and blast off for it. I want to say that surface to a sloppy Jool orbit I burned up 9000 or more Delta-V. I'll have to read up on getting my orbits tighter, but that is very helpful. I'll probably still leave a little wiggle room even for hardcore mode. Oh well, need something to make money after the stipends run out. I'll fix them back up tomorrow night. Thanks for your input.

[Ratzap]

Okie dokie. That sounds pretty darn efficient, which my testing ships are often not. I slap something together, shotgun out of Kerbin SOI, then line the planet up like I would going to Mun and blast off for it. I want to say that surface to a sloppy Jool orbit I burned up 9000 or more Delta-V. I'll have to read up on getting my orbits tighter, but that is very helpful. I'll probably still leave a little wiggle room even for hardcore mode. Oh well, need something to make money after the stipends run out. I'll fix them back up tomorrow night. Thanks for your input.

If you add something to build a Minmus refueling station to the missions you could assume people can top off before leaving Kerbin SoI. When heading to Jool I plan with the usual 3,500 dV (all numbers vac dV to keep it simpler) to get into Kerbal orbit, you'll need another 2,000 or so to leave Kerbin SoI, align planes and transfer out. Aerobrake or use gravity slinghots to brake into the system means you can get there with 6,500 to 7,000 on the pad in KSC but you won't have much left once there. Or make sure you reach Minmus with a rocket you can refuel to give you more slop to play with at Jool.

[Boamere]

So when a newer version comes out will the missions I have done disappear (not that its bad )?

And can I make a minor request to add some more Space-plane missions, because they are really helping me in learning how to make and fly SSTOs (Don't feel pressured or anything )

oh and what life-support mod do you suggest?

EDIT: I also love the way your mission pack has forced me to become a pro at not using mechjeb and using almost all stock parts since other mod parts are waaay too expensive, its made a much better pilot so thanks 8D

Edited September 1, 2013 by Boamere

[Geckgo]

Boamere, glad you are enjoying the pack. The last two AKSF missions will break in the next update, so they will "need" to be redone, as well as two other missions that are filling the spot (or was it one other mission?? Can't remember.) OTT, you may want to start over to access the pay-for-a-year contracts that are now a part of some of the missions, but you aren't really missing anything. As far as SSTOs, once you complete mission 5 you can use the X-extended missions to launch them the same as you would a rover (for now). I might add some bonus missions for them though, just to keep you entertained We'll see how busy I am tonight.

For life support, I'm using TAC Life Support. Simple, clean, elegant, though the current release (at least the last one I downloaded) doesn't allow recycling of waste. ... yet. Still, it's a non-invasive mod that shouldn't (other than forgetting batteries on manned pods) interfere with the flow of the game one wince. Okay, maybe a wince, but definitely not a wheeze.

I'm glad your learning. I've yet to use mechjeb for anything 'cept fixing the SAS in 0.20. I think I have it installed still, just never use it, too much stuff to figure out

Thanks for the comment and thanks for giving my pack a try.

[Boamere]

Thanks for the quick answer, I might try out the TAC Life support mod to give me a bit more of a challenge and also thank you for considering and listening to the thoughts of people like me, it doesn't happen very often

Also I have a bug to report, when i had to dock two craft together and then land, I wasn't be able to complete the mission for some reason, so then I tried again and the same happened.

So i figured ok.. it has to be to do with the docking of the station and the lander so I got two landers and docked them together and then landed with a kind of mutilated upside down lander on the top my other one (I wish I had taken some screenies ) and I was able to complete the mission.

So in short the only way to complete the docking missions with stations etc. is to keep it docked while landing. (although i could be being incredibly dumb and maybe this is a bug with the mission controller mod itself) Have you had this happen or is it just me?

(sorry for the extra long paragraph )

Edited September 1, 2013 by Boamere

[Geckgo]

I just went thru the docking mission in fact AKSF 13 I think. No issues. Up, docked with a satellite, then splash-down landing and completed. Are you using version 0.51 of my pack? It should be working. Hmm, are you using MissionController or MissionController Extended? If you are using an older version that may be the cause, but let me look over the mission specs real quick and see what the issue is.

Another question, were both docking craft in space when you started the mission? That can have odd effects on the pack, cause it doesn't know which ship to track. You do need to launch, dock, land to ensure it will work, or at least make sure you are controlling the same ship when you start and end the mission. Another possibility is the orbit, but I'll just assume you were in a 70+k orbit when you docked.

Um,, yea, let me know all your version info for the pack AND MissionController, and maybe what other mods you are using. MechJeb shouldn't be causing an issue. I have it installed and it just pretty much sits there and doesn't seem to bother anything.

[Geckgo]

Ah crap, how many kerbals did you have in your lander, one or two? You do need a crew of 2 to complete the mission. The idea is to use the same or a beefed up version of a ship from the "Company" mission.

[Kalista]

I have another small request Geckgo. Is it possible to add one more tiny mission that kinda seems to be missing? In your Gemini mockup line you have the missions for a multi kerbal missions, docking and endurance missions could it be possible with either the aksf-12 mission or one around there have a mission requireing a short eva spacewalk? Those sets of missions seem to be modeled around getting your space program ready for manned missions to mun and minmus (similiar to the real gemini program) tho the only mission lacking in that string is a spacewalk. IF added to an existing mission or on its own the eva wouldn't need to be long a couple minutes or so.

[Geckgo]

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!

Why am I happy it's Monday? I'm not. I'm happy because my pack has been expanded to 65 missions and finally put up for release. Told you it would be soon

I'm really exited about this pack, though I didn't get a chance to test the kethane missions, so I hope I programmed them properly. Please report any bugs either to this thread or if you need to you can post them on spaceport or email me. This thread is really the best place for them though.

I want to give a special thanks to everyone for your ideas and input and of course for downloading my pack in the first place. I'm trying to incorporate as much as I can, though I'm sure by now Kalista thinks I'm ignoring him, lol. Sorry Kal, no Duna Rover yet, maybe in the next release. I did at one time have an EVA in there but something kept screwing it up and the mission wouldn't complete. I think I've resolved the issue though, so I can probably toss it back into the mission, but it won't have a "bonus" attached to it like I wanted. I'll try to remember that one for the next release, but aside from bug fixes I need to take a break for a few days. Guys at work are getting mad at me for "playing my game" all night.

Okay, I think the only "game breaks" will be the last two AKSF missions which you should be able to play again, but there's some probe missions in there now. Something I think the SSTO people will like, I tossed in two special missions at the last minute for Boamere. Good idea Boa. All planets and moons now how at least an orbit mission, and 3 extra missions for AKSF space station in a 150m Kerbin orbit. Actually, that last mission AKSF 20 will be the first step toward removing some of the X missions. (X means scheduled for deletion )

Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled programming. Have a kerbal day!