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TT NeverUnload - Vessel Unloading Preventer

TouhouTorpedo

By TouhouTorpedo
in KSP1 Mod Releases

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-Velocity-

-Velocity-

Posted
Posted (edited)

Awesome! I'm gonna install this soon for my attempt to build a fully reusable Eve launch system. Basically, I fly a big nuclear-powered "bomber" up above most of Eve's atmosphere, then I drop the ascent stage and fly the ascent stage up to Eve orbit... kinda like a propeller-driven version of the B-52 launching an orbital-capable X-15: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/50798-Reusable-balloon-lofted-or-airplane-lofted-Eve-orbital-launch-system-is-it-possible/page2

Sweet mod, I can't wait! Currently, if I try this, then the "bomber" gets deleted the instant the ascent stage gets 2.5 km from it. I love how we are allowed to specify the unload distance and which vessels it applies to.

Edited by |Velocity|
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Van Disaster

Van Disaster

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Velocity: I did something similar, I zoom-climbed an aircraft to about 65km and launched a satellite from that; how I got round the vanishing issue was to get the satellite out of the atmosphere ( and not about to re-enter immediately ) and switch back to the plane, which I put on the ground as quick as possible. The satellite was still above the atmosphere so it didn't get eaten, and I could put it in a holding orbit at leisure, and then go and return the plane to KSC. Despite having the standard loading distances the aircraft didn't get immediately deleted, it was just plummeting fairly rapidly kerbin-ward by the time I switched back.

This + kOS looks promising for making that sort of thing painless.

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  • 4 weeks later...
JoCRaM

JoCRaM

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Edit:

@TouhouTorpedo

This is the plugin I wrote zip, github, sometime I'll do a proper release but I just don't feel like it. Is LGPL licensed and I'm uploading it with the hope that you might find the code useful.

I wrote this plugin for prevent parachuted vessels from going into rails, so is strictly for vessels in atmosphere, vessels that land or go suborbital will be unloaded if they aren't on focus. I toyed with vessels in orbit but I found it to be unreliable as sometimes the kraken would rip them apart so I thought it would be most wise to not tempt it, and as I wrote above, vessels that aren't on focus and touch the ground tend to blow up if you're more than 10km away.

This is what I've been needing!

my pegasus launchers have always been a desparate race to get the probe out of atmosphere and stabalised then switch back to the carrier before it hits the 25km roof

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nater

nater

Posted
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wow, love this one :)

Since you wrote this: how hard would a plugin be that allows us to unload/load vessels within the 2km distance? Would be very nice for big stations or bases.

From the first post.

contrary to its name it doesn't NEVER unload, but it is definable in the CFG what distance unload will occur, and the default is massive (300km).

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BahamutoD

BahamutoD

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Hmm, this doesn't seem to be working for me. I put the NeverUnload part on each stage of my reusable launch vehicle (Falcon9 style), and one on a grounded rover so I could watch the launch from the ground. Enable all of them.

In the first scenario, I run the kOS script for launching then switch to the rover. The rocket wont launch because the stage command on the rocket's kOS is trying to stage the rover that I'm focused on. Okay, maybe not a NeverUnload problem, so I try letting it stage first, then switching to the rover. I watch the rocket fly but it still gets unloaded at 2.5km.

Then I try watching from the rocket's perspective. Rocket launches, then decouples the first stage, and the first stage makes the burn to return to KSC (while still focused on the second stage), it stays alive well past the 2.5km mark, so I think its working well. Then something happens and the staging gets weird and the ship gets unloaded at about 20km distance. (All of this is inside the atmosphere).

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Secret Squirrel

Secret Squirrel

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Hmm, this doesn't seem to be working for me. I put the NeverUnload part on each stage of my reusable launch vehicle (Falcon9 style), and one on a grounded rover so I could watch the launch from the ground. Enable all of them.

In the first scenario, I run the kOS script for launching then switch to the rover. The rocket wont launch because the stage command on the rocket's kOS is trying to stage the rover that I'm focused on. Okay, maybe not a NeverUnload problem, so I try letting it stage first, then switching to the rover. I watch the rocket fly but it still gets unloaded at 2.5km.

Then I try watching from the rocket's perspective. Rocket launches, then decouples the first stage, and the first stage makes the burn to return to KSC (while still focused on the second stage), it stays alive well past the 2.5km mark, so I think its working well. Then something happens and the staging gets weird and the ship gets unloaded at about 20km distance. (All of this is inside the atmosphere).

you have to set the stage to AG. So your first stage decouplers are on AG1, and when you want to stage you activate AG1 in your script, not stage. Its a KSP limitation you can only "STAGE" active vessel.

Also I think 2 vessels are as many as you can use, it sounds like you have a third, the rover. Might not work right. Like it says it doesn't actually "NEVER" unload it just ups the distance it has to be to unload so the 20k thing might be that although I think it's set to something insane like 300k so more than likely its the three ship thing.

Edited by Secret Squirrel
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AdmiralTigerclaw

AdmiralTigerclaw

Posted
Posted (edited)

Interesting glitch I just discovered.

I'm using NE to drop a pair of sensor-studded probes from a C-130 styled aircraft and let them parachute down to destinations. It appears that they clip through terrain like the Highlands.

EDIT: New information.

The limit is approx. 18 km, and then something happens with terrain surface hitboxing and the probes just fall right through the terrain and drop into the ocean. Might be prudent to FORCE terrain surfaces to remain loaded around the vehicles involved.

Edited by AdmiralTigerclaw
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TouhouTorpedo

TouhouTorpedo

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I think its down to the auto tessellation of the terrain, as I believe both the visual model and hitbox is generated this way. So as soon as it visually changes in the distance, anything still loaded on the ground is either now falling or underground. Its definitely a limitation, but shouldn't effect anything going upward.

If anyone can fix the source code that drives TT never unload and improve it doing their own version, I'm not too worried. Its more or less what Lazor does without any GUI anyway. The models I'd rather keep for myself though since its basically a changed version of the TT Rover ASAS model.

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InfiniteDice

InfiniteDice

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IIf anyone can fix the source code that drives TT never unload and improve it doing their own version, I'm not too worried.

I have stuff similar to this in my code... but what still eludes me is the 300m cutout range where objects become packed as debris. I have many examples of this, when you launch a rocket and switch away from it, it will hang in the air at around 300m until you switch back to it.

If someone knows a way to bypass that problem let me know.

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Motokid600

Motokid600

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I've been tempted to try this, but it sounds too buggy. I already use the Lazor plugin. That ups the general draw distance to 99km. And this WORKS. I stopped using KoS because it pisses me off, but when I did ( and when kOs worked ) I would watch all my rockets ascend from the ground all the way to orbit. The Lazor camera can track and zoom ( but the window is far too small ) and you can really achieve a cool effect.

Hell I can even look down from Munar orbit and see my base clear as day. So.. why use this over lazor? A larger draw distance then 99km sure, but for only a few craft?

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mdosogne

mdosogne

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As someone already pointed out, this mod is an invitation for the kraken, since faraway vessels are part of the same physics simulation they are subject to greater floating point error. Bumping the distance up a bit seems like an OK solution, but what I'd really like to have is separate physics simulation(s) for distant craft(s) - put those unused processor cores to work!

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TouhouTorpedo

TouhouTorpedo

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Only if someone else does it. This is the only mod I've so far given permission that someone else can take over it. It's really just a tinkering tool I made quick for a purpose.

Indeed as some have said if you land something, then switch far away your vessel will explode. That's nothing of my doing - KSP reduces surface detail when further away on a planet, and this includes the said planets collision mesh, which can instantly put your vessel under ground. So put in a simple way - don't use with a landed vessel you intend to keep. Probably best to use with a fresh save.

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dtobi

dtobi

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It works, but you there is no tech tree integration yet. and you need to drop it in the legacy parts folder :V

I can help with the tech tree integration. This should be a part that is available quite early on, right? Maybe even from the start?

What is the reason that it has to go into the parts directory?

I'd love to see this mod in good shape because it seems to be quite useful for my radio controlled action group device.

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