[1.2.0] Precise Node 1.2.4 - Precisely edit your maneuver nodes

[regex]

Hey man, thank YOU for making such an awesome plugin!

Debugging; always a good time.

Well I really appreciate that!

I am probably a day or two off from getting a new "release candidate" ready. I rewrote a large chunk of the plugin tonight in order to clean it up (I just found out I could pass anonymous functions as parameters in C#, which is awesome) which means finding the actual logic will be easier (for me). While I won't be programming tomorrow night, I will definitely be back on the case on Saturday.

0.7 should be pretty usable for the moment using the textbox workarounds found here. I've removed 0.7.5 from the OP download link.

[TNM]

is it intended that, once i change numbers in the plugin-GUI, i can't drag the node in mapmode anymore (it locks) and, during the burn, it stays locked and doesn't change burn-time like in stock making it a guessing game how long to burn?

[hkbruvold]

is it intended that, once i change numbers in the plugin-GUI, i can't drag the node in mapmode anymore (it locks) and, during the burn, it stays locked and doesn't change burn-time like in stock making it a guessing game how long to burn?

It's just a bug in 0.7.5. Regex has added link for version 0.7, which should work

[Hyomoto]

I don't think that is intended, at least insofar as it isn't working like that on my game.

[Dweller_Benthos]

OK, I see that I found the same problems as other people, e.g. the widget being over ridden by the dialog, so I don't need to say any more about that. I also noticed that when I did approach the node and do the burn, the node didn't respond and the burn time didn't decrease, and the adjusted flight path stayed as if the node wasn't active, if that makes any sense.

Also, is it meant to have the dialog open when the maneuver node is closed? I used to use a different editor, which doesn't look like it's going to be updated, it's thread points here, but it's dialog used to vanish when the node was "inactive", IOW, in it's minimized state. It had an option to keep the dialog open if I wanted, but would go away and unclutter the screen when it was no longer needed. Is Precise Node supposed to do that as well? If not, feature request, hmmm?? LOL Thanks for this, node editing like this should be directly in game.

Edited December 21, 2013 by Dweller_Benthos

[regex]

Also, is it meant to have the dialog open when the maneuver node is closed? I used to use a different editor, which doesn't look like it's going to be updated, it's thread points here, but it's dialog used to vanish when the node was "inactive", IOW, in it's minimized state. It had an option to keep the dialog open if I wanted, but would go away and unclutter the screen when it was no longer needed. Is Precise Node supposed to do that as well? If not, feature request, hmmm?? LOL Thanks for this, node editing like this should be directly in game.

I didn't like that behavior because of how often maneuver nodes randomly collapsed, so I just made the window stay open when there was a node. If you want to hide the window hit "P".

[Dweller_Benthos]

I didn't like that behavior because of how often maneuver nodes randomly collapsed, so I just made the window stay open when there was a node. If you want to hide the window hit "P".

Ah, that works, many thanks again.

So, any idea WHY they made maneuver nodes randomly collapse? In pretty much all the youtube videos I've watched by many different people, that is one of the main things they complain about. Actually, that's the reason I initially installed a node edit mod, was to have a keyboard shortcut to re-open a node that had hidden itself among a multitude of ship & debris icons that you used to get in the older version where you couldn't hide debris. Hated that zoom-in, open node, zoom-out to see entire system, adjust node, node closes, zoom-in etc. Madness.

The only thing I'd like to see added are more snap-to functions, then I would never have to open the MechJeb node editor, which has snap-tos for ascending & descending nodes of the current orbit, and the same for target. Those come in handy.

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

So, any idea WHY they made maneuver nodes randomly collapse?

I take it it's a glitch they haven't come to fix yet.

The only thing I'd like to see added are more snap-to functions, then I would never have to open the MechJeb node editor, which has snap-tos for ascending & descending nodes of the current orbit, and the same for target. Those come in handy.

As one of the guys that suggested the snap-to feature, I second this. The only reason I still use MJ node editor once in a while.

[jrandom]

I'd also like to see not just the orbit's periapsis/apopsis but the maneuver node's periapsis/apoapsis. That one feature right there would make me a happy spaceman.

Edit: latest version does this!... wait, how long has that been there? Wait, I don't care! It works! It's just what I've always wanted.

Edited December 21, 2013 by jrandom

[Dweller_Benthos]

Just came across another weird thing. This is still using .7.5 because I'm lazy and didn't switch back to .7. Anyway, I was using the buttons in the dialog to get a capture around the Mun, and as soon as the flight path "connected" into an orbit, everything in the dialog went blank. No display, no buttons, nothing. Just a transparent rectangle.

The debug log is full of "Null reference Exception: Object reference not set to an instance of an object." errors.

Noticed that even when the dialog is open but using the controls on the widget, as soon as the orbit changes to being a capture around the Mun, the dialog goes blank.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Dweller_Benthos

[regex]

As one of the guys that suggested the snap-to feature, I second this. The only reason I still use MJ node editor once in a while.

There's a lot of math involved in MechJeb's node editor and math is definitely not my strong suit. I'm also not going to compromise my licensing by outright copying from the MJ codebase. I'll see what I can do though. Can you name specific requests for snap buttons? I don't use MechJeb anymore.

This is still using .7.5 because I'm lazy and didn't switch back to .7.

The 0.7.5 codebase isn't being rewritten, the 0.7 codebase is. Thanks, though!

[BigD145]

Keypad usage and all. Very nice.

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

MJ has Ap, Pe, An, and Dn. And I think that pretty much covers all the bases, I don't remember having the need to precisely put a node over any other point.

And keep it up, your plugin is really cool!

[Creat]

I'm sure you've got plenty of reports for the 0.7.5 problems where you can either use the node gizmo or the numeric input, but not both. Just wanted to confirm I have the exact same problem that jfjohnny5 reported first. I'll also just drop down to 0.7 until it can be resolved.

Once again a very hearty thank you from me. Just playing with nodes and tuning orbits/paths is so much simpler (and frankly more fun) with this. Less fighting with the damn interface, more doing stuff

[Dweller_Benthos]

There's a lot of math involved in MechJeb's node editor and math is definitely not my strong suit. I'm also not going to compromise my licensing by outright copying from the MJ codebase. I'll see what I can do though. Can you name specific requests for snap buttons? I don't use MechJeb anymore.

The 0.7.5 codebase isn't being rewritten, the 0.7 codebase is. Thanks, though!

As mentioned, useful snaps are the Dn & An of the current orbit, and the Dn & An with the current target if one is selected. I use the An & Dn a lot to get the exact spot where it's best to change inclination.

And I will revert to .7 post haste!

[regex]

I'll look into AN/DN. I think the biggest hurdle there will be finding the UT from the orbital information. I've got to get the mod working again first, though.

[kiwiak]

Just downloaded.. and it became part of my basic mods set.

Its shame that modders have to provie players shuch basic functionality in place of game developers..

I have question: what are "conics modes" used for?

And suggestion: option allowing to adjust maneuver by keeping key pressed instead if continously pressing it woudl be nice.

[dewin]

I have question: what are "conics modes" used for?

This determines how orbits (and predicted orbits via maneuver nodes) are drawn, notably in cases where you're changing between SOI. I don't know exactly how they all work, but the two I use most common are 0 and 3 (the default):

3 gives you one continuous line -- that is, the displayed orbit is always relative to the reference frame of the current SOI.

0 relative to the SOI they're in. This is particularly handy when doing transfers -- if you're going from Kerbin to the Mun, you can double-click to focus the Mun and then zoom in to get a better look at the situation/better place maneuver nodes. It's near essential if doing anything like an interplanetary transfer.

You don't actually need a mod installed to change conics mode (though you do if you want to do it on-the-fly), you can edit CONIC_PATCH_DRAW_MODE in KSP\settings.cfg. Also handy to increase is CONIC_PATCH_LIMIT (probably to 5 or so), which determines the number of predicted orbits that will be displayed. For instance, if you're launching from Kerbin and slingshotting by the Mun to transfer to another planet, it'd look something like this:

Conic #1: Your current Hohmann transfer trajectory from Kerbin to the Mun

Conic #2: The Mun flyby trajectory. (In mode 0, you'll see this as your first line abruptly ending and then another line where Mun currently is, rather than where it will be when you arrive), Mode 3 has it relative to Kerbin's)

Conic #3: Back in Kerbin's SOI after Mun escape, en route to Kerbin escape.

Conic #4: Kerbol orbit

Conic #5: Your destination planet's orbit.

HTH.

[Llama1017]

How do you open this? I use 7zip and it says it cannot open this as an archive.

EDIT: Just me being dumb.

Don't mind me.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Llama1017

[regex]

Since we're on the front page again I thought I'd let you guys know that I have solved the recent issue with node editing and PN editing locking each other out, but I still have a few nagging errors to tie down before release. I get Null Refs in some SQUAD function that I need to figure out; I know it's caused by me but I'm not sure what I'm doing and it's going to take a raft of try-catch statements to figure out. Anyway, my wife's 12-day-continuous work stretch is almost over and so are the holidays, so I have some free time again.

[Andersenman]

Many thanks!!

All the best,

A.

[JDobs]

Glad to hear that you're back regex. Hope you had good holidays and have a happy new year!

I look forward to the next update!

[regex]

Glad to hear that you're back regex. Hope you had good holidays and have a happy new year!

I'm never far, but there's a huge difference in effort and circumstance between forum-warrioring and coding. Plus, I do web (app) development as a day job so sometimes I just want to come home and not stare at code.

The holidays were great, thank you; hope you guys had some good times as well!

[Slow Dog]

Regex, thanks for making the tool. It's one of those mods that has features needed in the base game.

I'm going to stick to a single request: Could you add something that allows for a greater time-step adjustment? The usual reason is wanting to try the same maneuver another complete orbit along, and 100 seconds isn't enough.

[regex]

Regex, thanks for making the tool. It's one of those mods that has features needed in the base game.

I'm going to stick to a single request: Could you add something that allows for a greater time-step adjustment? The usual reason is wanting to try the same maneuver another complete orbit along, and 100 seconds isn't enough.

Sorry I missed this post. In Options you can enable the coarser time step options, I think it's Enable Additional UT Controls. Gives you Ap/Pe, +/-1K, and +/-10K.