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Kerbal Attachment System (KAS) 0.4.7 - Pipes as fuel lines and even fewer explosions!

Majiir

By Majiir
in KSP1 Mod Releases

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Galane

Galane

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Posted
I've never understood why one would really have need for kethane converters and containers in orbit, it costs more fuel for all that weight. Seems more ideal to have the facilities on the celestial body and do all the work there without expending more fuel for something that will be converted. Also it is lighter to transfer fuel as opposed to kethane. There is the kethane engine, but if I am correct, it is atmosphere breathing, making it all the more clear that such facilities have greater benefit grounded.

Connecting things on the surface without KAS and Kerbals is a real pain in the posterior. Building an efficient vehicle to act as a reusable orbit/surface/orbit/repeat tanker requires it to be able to land with a large amount of empty tankage AND be able to claw its way back to orbit with all tanks full while being able to lift much more fuel than it uses.

For some planets (Eve in particular) that's pretty much impossible. It can be difficult even with lifting Kethane. A lander I made for Duna managed to net less than half a Rockomax X200-8 on each lift. I'd send it down with that tank empty and coming back up, after circularizing and rendezvous, and having to convert a bit of Kethane to have enough fuel to rendezvous... it just wasn't efficient enough. Fortunately the design did hold enough fuel to go to Ike and land.

So if you have a lander capable of carrying over 50% of its fuel and oxidizer capacity to orbit, and landing with 50% or less of its capacity filled, and can station Kerbals at the fueling base to make KAS connections, then a surface based Kethane conversion operation is feasible.

For my upcoming Eve mission (all components individually tested, ship assembly ongoing in Kerbin orbit in a "simulation") I'll be dropping a drilling rover, a converting rover and a manned lander which will start with about a 50% or somewhat less fuel and oxidizer load. Most likely only one of the two Kerbals will get to set foot on Eve, to plant a flag and connect and disconnect KAS from Tinker to Evers to Chance (drilling, converting and manned vehicles, respectively) to fuel up the lander for its massive parts shedding ascent back to orbit.

A KAS winch will serve for getting down from and back up to the 2-man can due to small diameter tanks and engine under it, thus nowhere to mount ladders.

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Raffo

Raffo

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Posted

Hi folks!

a) This mod is awesome! :D

B) I read through this thread, and just for the record, I also miss the control options for the stack winch, as described a few times earlier already (I honestly didn't know it was a problem, as I only encountered KAS newly in this career game, so I don't even have other winches yet).

c) I noticed something, that is less a technical bug, but a problematic gameplay situation: In career mode, as soon as you unlock the storage containers (specifically storage container A of course is the first), you suddenly get access to a lot of things, you might not have unlocked yet. These parts don't show up in your part list in the construction buildings of course, but you can add everything as usual to the containers, without constraint. So for example I can easily put RTGs and rover wheels in the boxes, and assemble them to my ships (or... rovers ^^) later, even though I technically didn't even research them. This surely has a very kerbal touch to it ("Hey, what's that warm thing?" - "I don't know, just put it in the box and see what we can do with it in space!" :D), but break the career mode a little. Maybe an update of KAS can check the storable parts for their research status?

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Diazo

Diazo

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Could you make two version of the VVC mod? One that works with KAS to support undocked but attached loads and requires KAS, and one that doesn't work with or require KAS.

That's certainly an option, but it's a cumbersome one.

I think I've come up with a way to do it that does not require KAS as a dependency but further testing is required.

If you are on the ground, check all loaded vessels (so within 2500m), if they are not the current vessel and in flight (so not vessel.landed), that vessel is being carried by the current vessel.

This method relies on KSP returning the vessel.landed variable as I expect though, which is what I need to test still.

D.

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Cheese Wheel

Cheese Wheel

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Posted

Awesome mod! Just one question, is there any way to add what parts can be put in the containers? I want to put surface lights on my space station without having to deorbit every component of it and replacing it with an identical one with lights, and KAS is exactly what I was looking for! Just need to know how to put the lighs in a container

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Cheese Wheel

Cheese Wheel

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I think you could take a look into the addModule.cfg in the KAS folder - got a feeling you just have to add another entry here.

Gave it a try, didn't work. Tried with this:

///////// SurfaceLight ///////
GRAB
{
	stockPartName = SurfaceLight
	evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.15)
	evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
	storable = true
	storedSize = 8
	attachOnPart = True
	attachOnEva = False
	attachOnStatic = False
	attachSendMsgOnly = False
}

Might be the "stockpartname" messing it up but I have no idea what to put in its palce, just "partname" didn't work either

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Roxette

Roxette

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... I have no idea what to put in its palce, just "partname" didn't work either

You need to look for the line that begins "name =" in the part.cfg file for the part you want to add, and the string after that is what you need to use in the stockPartName entry, so for the small surface light from the pack you are working with you would use 'stockPartName = W485_SurfaceLight' - note that capitalization is relevant and must be the same as the part.cfg.

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Mecripp

Mecripp

Posted
Posted

You trying to make something grab ? try this you can grab it all.

@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[sCANsat]]]:Final

{

MODULE

{

name = KASModuleGrab

evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)

evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)

storable = true

storedSize = 8

attachOnPart = True

attachOnEva = False

attachOnStatic = False

attachSendMsgOnly = False

}

}

}

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Cheese Wheel

Cheese Wheel

Posted
Posted
You need to look for the line that begins "name =" in the part.cfg file for the part you want to add, and the string after that is what you need to use in the stockPartName entry, so for the small surface light from the pack you are working with you would use 'stockPartName = W485_SurfaceLight' - note that capitalization is relevant and must be the same as the part.cfg.

Ah now I get it, I was using the model name for it. Gonna try it soon and see if it works

You trying to make something grab ?

Trying to make them placeable in the containers and then grab them so I can place them on the station

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Mecripp

Mecripp

Posted
Posted (edited)

OR are you trying to give the light to a part ?

EDIT for the stock lights it would be @part[spotlight*]

@PART[spotlight*]]]:Final

{

MODULE

{

name = KASModuleGrab

evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)

evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)

storable = true

storedSize = 8

attachOnPart = True

attachOnEva = False

attachOnStatic = False

attachSendMsgOnly = False

}

}

}

should work.

Edited by Mecripp2
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boberts314

boberts314

Posted
Posted (edited)
Trying to make them placeable in the containers and then grab them so I can place them on the station
You mean so that you can store them in the KAS containers? I think the relevant lines for that are

storable = true

storedSize = 8

Set stored size to whatever amount of space you think it should take up in the container.

weirdly i cant attach once i have grabbed it

Is "AttachOnPart" set to true?

Edited by boberts314
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KerbMav

KerbMav

Posted
Posted

*Enters room with eyes big as a Kerbal's*

Could we increase the size of the fuel pipe starting part - or transfer the MODULE in there to another flatter model - and retexture the pipe - to built Kerbal-sized (cosmetic) "walking tubes" for base building???

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Mecripp

Mecripp

Posted
Posted (edited)
*Enters room with eyes big as a Kerbal's*

Could we increase the size of the fuel pipe starting part - or transfer the MODULE in there to another flatter model - and retexture the pipe - to built Kerbal-sized (cosmetic) "walking tubes" for base building???

There is a mod that as that now. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/52139-WIP-Bavarian-Aerospace-Tubes%21-%28update11-13-13%29

Edited by Mecripp2
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1of6Billion

1of6Billion

Posted
Posted
*Enters room with eyes big as a Kerbal's*

Could we increase the size of the fuel pipe starting part - or transfer the MODULE in there to another flatter model - and retexture the pipe - to built Kerbal-sized (cosmetic) "walking tubes" for base building???

I was just thinking of that! :D

@MeCripp However an awesome mod, that one does not simply connect port-A with port-B, but requires a buch of straights and bends.

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TomatoSoup

TomatoSoup

Posted
Posted
I can't transfer fuel between 2 ship via magnet connection

I've switch the plug mode to docked, but 2 ship haven't dock together

Why?

The magnet will never be part of the other ship. You have docked the plug to the magnet, not the magnet to the ship.

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KerbMav

KerbMav

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Posted
The magnet will never be part of the other ship. You have docked the plug to the magnet, not the magnet to the ship.

The part says that the magnet will only work on a whinch - any workaround to use it on anything else?

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thobruk

thobruk

Posted
Posted

Let me add a caveat to the above discussion. Long pipes can result in exploding ships. I had a 100m long pipe on the surface of Minmus and ships would regularly commit suicide when the pipe was connected. I presume this is something to do with the pipe going outside the frame of reference of the loaded ship. Shorter pipe = success.

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Mecripp

Mecripp

Posted
Posted
Let me add a caveat to the above discussion. Long pipes can result in exploding ships. I had a 100m long pipe on the surface of Minmus and ships would regularly commit suicide when the pipe was connected. I presume this is something to do with the pipe going outside the frame of reference of the loaded ship. Shorter pipe = success.

LOL yes but then again using pipes or cable of any length you can have suicide ships.

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